The regulation of sport betting in Europe is not governed by a single piece of legislation that covers the region, instead, most countries have national laws for the legal and regulatory issues around sport betting. These laws can vary significantly between countries.

Gambling Rules And Regulations

As part of a conference held by Ceuta City Council, the current head of Spain’s gambling regulator delivered a keynote on different topics related to gambling, including regulation and other expectations for the industry’s future.

What is an online gambling jurisdiction/licensing jurisdiction?

1. In Spain, the government is in charge of online gambling and regulating games. The self-governing first-level political subdivisions of Spain, like Madrid, are responsible for gambling in their territory. Authorities in Madrid recently took action against gambling by banning public media from advertising bets.
2. The main aim of the federal Gaming Act is to harmonise the regulation of online gambling in Spain, an activity beyond regional boundaries (see below, Background to Gaming Act). At the same time, regional gambling continues to be regulated by each autonomous region. The Act provides that.
3. In pursuit of illegal gambling, the DGOJ tries to ensure unlicensed online gambling in Spain is suppressed mainly by maintaining a register of gambling websites that allow connections from within Spain and the verification procedures on websites subject to a complaint, report, claim, or ex officio investigation by the DGOJ.
4. When set up, the new technical body will represent Spain at EU meetings to discuss how the Member State implements the new laws and guidelines for online gambling. UNE will oversee the regulator’s framework for the monitoring of unified norms, the collection of feedback from autonomous regions, and the accreditation of technical experts.

A legal online gambling site offering services to customers must hold a betting or gaming license issued by an appropriate licensing authority. Within Europe, most countries have licensing authorities who are responsible for issuing licenses and regulating the licenses. A site will usually have to base at least some of its operations within the jurisdiction where it wants to be licensed, which means many gambling sites choose their location almost entirely on the basis of the legislation and regulatory practices in that region.

How does online gambling legislation and regulation affect you?

Within Europe, regulatory practices differ, which means that not all operators are subject to the same standard of regulation. This means there may be an advantage to using sites that are licensed in stricter jurisdictions.

As examples, in Germany and Spain, online betting sites are subject to regulation at the state and local level; in Netherlands, sites are regulated by the Dutch Gaming Authority, and there is currently no regulatory framework in Ireland.

The safest payment methods

There is currently no pan-European body for licensing and regulating online betting sites, though there are a number of established and reputable brands offering services across Europe, each licensed and regulated by a variety of governing bodies in each European country they operate in.
In Germany and Spain, online betting sites are regulated at state and local level; in Netherlands, sites are regulated by the Dutch Gaming Authority. There is currently no regulatory framework in Ireland./

A number of reputable international brands operate offshore, servicing the European market. These sites are licensed and regulated by authorities in the country in which they are based. Choose a betting site that has a long track record of success and check the brand’s customer service and gambling policies.

Finally the Spanish government approved a ban on marketing in almost all forms of online gambling, something that critics say will not really protect consumers as the government believes.

During the session of the Council of Ministers of Spain last tuesday, the government approved the Royal Decree related to the advertising of gambling games. According to its content, commercials on television / radio / YouTube will be restricted only to the 1 a.m. at 5 a.m.

In addition, as planned, betting sponsorships for sports teams are eliminated. Likewise, the bonuses offered by the operators will be limited only to players who have already made at least three deposits.

The entry into force of these new rules will be staggered, according to the football sponsorship agreements already signed and that expire at the end of the current season. As for the current marketing campaigns that include athletes and celebrities, the decree authorizes its extension until april 1 of next year. After that they will no longer be allowed.

Likewise, the current online advertising contracts signed with third-party websites may continue to publish their advertisements until may 1, 2021. At the end of that period, operators may not make any further advertisements or promotions of this type except on their own gambling platforms.

Garzón: the “law of the jungle” will be ended

Operators can continue to promote their products on their social networks and those of their followers, as long as they avoid sending them to minors through filters. Those who do not comply with these legal provisions could face fines ranging from 100,000 euros to 1 million euros and suspension of the license for up to six months.

After the announcement, the Minister of Consumption, Alberto Garzón, declared that the implementation of these new rules was a necessity given the increase in gambling marketing strategies and the ability of this type of advertising to attract public during the period of confinement due to the pandemic. He had previously claimed that legal regulations on gaming marketing would end the “law of the jungle.”

Gambling advertising increased substantially last year but fell rapidly in the second quarter of 2020, just when Minister Garzón argued that this type of advertising was very powerful. Although the highest advertising spending in 2019 was made by ONCE and SELAE, the two state lotteries for which most of these rules do not apply.

The new rules do not affect state lotteries

During his remarks this week, Garzón said that imposing the same restrictions on state lotteries “would not make sense” as “they are of a different nature” from online casinos and bookmakers. He said it was Spanish gambling laws, not the Decree, which established the distinction between one form of gambling and another.

Online Gambling Regulation

However, although he admitted that the rates of gambling problems in the country increased considerably during the blockade due to the health crisis, he insisted that thanks to advertising there was “more attractiveness to participate” in the activity of online gambling.

Online Gambling Rules And Regulations

For its part, the association of the online gaming industry in Spain, Jdigital, pointed out that the royal decree will not effectively offer protection to consumers. It predicts that consumers will be pushed to gambling sites without a Spanish license.

There they will probably get better welcome bonus offers without having to pay taxes or be punished by the laws of the Spanish government.

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Source: https://calvinayre.com/2020/11/04/business/spain-approves-online-gambling-advertising-sponsorship-limits/