It has been announced that the UK government is thinking of implementing a law that will restrict gambling advertising. Namely, if the plans go through, it will no longer be possible to advertise gambling during the day. Earlier this year, the Gambling Commission ruled that operators aren’t allowed to advertise on file sharing sites.
Under the law which is currently in power, operators are allowed to advertise if the commercials appear during the commercial blocks of live sport broadcasts. Bingo operators are allowed to advertise without any restrictions.
A minister was quoted saying that under the current regulations, children were subjected to gambling advertising throughout the weekend. A representative of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport admitted that they are considering taking action on the issues. However, they didn’t undoubtedly confirm that they are drafting a new bill.
The topic of fixed-odds betting terminals was brought into the public eye and few newspapers have published that the Department will look into this matter within few weeks. It was also stated that this will make members of the Department keener on looking into the matter of advertising, in order to avoid further criticism.
Analysts have already considered the financial implications of the mentioned marketing restriction and concluded that a ban would have an impact on the industry, with smaller operators being hit harder than the well-established players in the industry.
In the analysis it was stated that the marketing to net sales percentage for companies in the gambling industry is pretty high, about 1/4, so a ban would have an obvious impact. The analysis concluded that the smaller companies would face even greater challenges to break into the market, whereas larger brands would not be severely hit, as the industry as whole shows serious consolidation signs.