The Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs, in order to provide greater protection to consumers, issues the new Royal Decree 958/2020 of 3 November, which again restricts commercial communications of gambling activities and affects affiliate marketing practices.
Contenidos
- How the state of alarm affects the sports betting and gambling industry.
- New measures in Spain’s Royal Decree on gambling communications.
- How the new measures influence affiliate marketing.
With the arrival of the pandemic and the declaration of the state of alarm, very restrictive measures were taken in Spain that severely affected the activity of bookmakers and gambling operators, prohibiting advertising in the gambling sector and therefore all affiliate marketing activities have been affected. During the time that the state of alarm was declared, the main measures taken were as follows:
- Welcome bonuses, which consist in offering money for gambling, are prohibited.
- The timetable for generic advertising by bookmakers and gambling operators is restricted to the early hours of the morning.
- Indirect gambling advertising by their network of affiliates is cancelled.
One sector that has not been affected is affiliate marketing for online brokers.
The activity of online brokers that gives traders access to the financial market has not been restricted in any way, as this sector is not included in gambling. Therefore, as there is no prohibition on the activity or advertising during the state of alarm, there has been an exponential increase in the traffic that online brokers have brought to advertisers through their affiliate marketing actions.
The trend among affiliates who were previously only involved in sports, sports betting or poker has been to move into affiliate marketing for finance and forex in order to make the financial gains that have not been made from online gambling.
What new measures are included in Spain’s new Royal Decree?
On 3 November 2020, the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs approved the new Royal Decree 958/2020 on commercial communications of gambling activities, which tightened the conditions for sponsorship and advertising of gambling.
https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2020/11/04/pdfs/BOE-A-2020-13495.pdf
All licensed online gambling operators and casinos in Spain will be affected; as will their affiliates; who make commercial communications from these advertisers with the aim of referring new players to their online gambling platforms and obtaining financial remuneration in return.
The most talked-about measures
This new regulation mainly aims to ensure that gambling is not considered as entertainment but as an addiction, a dangerous activity.
To this end, it restricts the sponsorship contracts that bookmakers have with professional sports teams so that their advertising does not appear on the teams’ kits or in the stadiums.
It also limits the hours of advertising in audiovisual media from 1:00 to 5:00 AM, in order to reduce the number of viewers who will see these campaigns.
And what will affect bookmakers and casinos the most is the ban on welcome bonuses or recruitment promotions from May 2021.
Thereafter, any promotions launched will only be targeted at users registered more than one month in advance.
How does the new Royal Decree on commercial communications for gambling activities affect affiliate marketing?
Any blogger, influencer, sports forecaster or affiliate in general who dedicates their digital channels to promote online gambling for economic interests will be affected by this new Royal Decree.
Consumer protection is its objective, so the next affiliate actions of gambling houses, online casinos and sports betting will have to be more restrictive:
- Affiliates must periodically express their commitment to the objectives of the Responsible Gambling and Self-Control campaign(https://www.ordenacionjuego.es/es/juego-responsable-dgoj ) set by the Government.
- Referrals from minors shall be avoided.
- No promotions will be launched by advertisers who are not licensed to operate in Spain.
- Among all the videos published by each affiliate on their channels, they must identify those that refer to gambling and must comply with the time restrictions (from 1:00 to 5:00AM).
At Affiliabet we are committed to responsible online gambling and all the campaigns available on our platform comply with all the requirements imposed by the new Royal Decree on commercial communications for gambling activities.
You have at your fingertips the best affiliate campaigns on the market in sports betting, online gambling, poker, finance and Forex. Sign up (link) now and start earning money because you will get a £10 bonus as a welcome gift.
What campaigns will you find at Affiliabet?
Campaigns for sports betting, online gambling, poker, finance and forex.
