SBC News

Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs will prioritise restoring gambling advertising restrictions as intended by the Royal Decree on Advertising.

The plan was outlined by Pablo Bustinduy, Spain’s new Minister of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs, addressing media on the current framework of federal rules on gambling advertising.

Confusion has arisen in the Spanish media, as this April the Supreme Court annulled specific articles of the Royal Decree on Advertising.

In an address to the Spanish media and the Directorate General of Gambling Regulation (DGOJ), Bustinduy intends to reintroduce and enhance restrictions on gambling advertising through legislative means, following annulments determined by the Supreme Court.

Since 2020, the Decree had limited gambling advertising on all Spanish media platforms from the early morning hours of 1 to 5 am. Further restrictions followed in 2022, as the Decree imposed a blanket ban on all forms of gambling sponsorships in professional sports, exc..

IBAS, the Independent Betting Adjudication Service, has clarified its position on matters related to settling disputed bets between bookmakers and customers.

Recognised as the UK’s most referred-to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service, IBAS issued its response related to this weekend’s BBC article referencing its ADR service used by customers to challenge the outcome of disputed bets.

The BBC highlighted concerns by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) that wrong results were being determined by bookmakers due to inaccurate data being recorded from feeds provided by third-party partners, monitoring match events.

Of significance, disputes on bet-builder outcomes were highlighted as customers ‘felt robbed’ by inaccurate data used to determine match statistics.

The article referenced IBAS’s Richard Hayler, who detailed that “nearly 300 people tried to appeal their football data bets”, and that data disputes “made up around 15% of their workload.”

On arbitrating disputes, the BBC..

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) will probe how football betting markets are settled, following concerns over wrong results being determined by bookmakers.

The Commission confirmed to the BBC that it would “meet figures in the football betting industry over claims that wrong results are being recorded”.

The probe follows consumer disputes concerning the use of inaccurate data used to settle football wagers referencing “statistics like the number of tackles or shots in a match.”

Customers have “felt robbed” due to incidents of inaccurate data being recorded by bookmakers using third-party feeds to monitor match play and to settle final outcomes.

Andrew Rhodes, CEO of the Gambling Commission, will meet with key betting data stakeholders to ensure the settlement of football markets is both accurate and fair.

The BBC’s report cited two customer disputes related to bet-builder wagers. These disputes involved misreported shots by Mo Salah and tackles made by Sunderland FC, errors attri..

The passage of Ireland’s Gambling Regulation Bill (GRB) has become further muddied, as conflicts emerge on the framework’s rules and determinations related to fundraising activities connected with gambling.

Concerns were raised to Minister of State, James Browne, who oversees the GRB’s agenda, to exclude charity draws and schemes from being included in the Bill’s framework.

An amendment, carrying a specific exemption for charity purposes, was proposed by Labour Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin but was rejected by Browne, who stated that the GRB must remain as it stands.

Browne cited that “excluding charities could remove important safeguards against the misuse of charitable status for gambling.”

Furthermore, the minister scolded deputies for attempting to modify the Bill at its review stage before proceeding to the Seanad (senate) to be determined as a law.

Deputies were reminded that amendments can only be considered during the ‘committee phase’ and therefore cannot be reintroduced durin..

Industry reformists at the House of Lords have stated that the Gambling Review’s White Paper falls significantly short on advertising policies and reforms to protect the public from harm.

This afternoon, the House of Lords hosted a short debate on the “Impact of gambling advertising, marketing and sponsorship on problem gambling”, put forward by Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrats).

As the Chair of the Peers for Gambling Reform, Lord Foster is pleased that the majority of the group’s recommendations ‘in whole or part’ were included in the Gambling Review’s White Paper. However, “except for the Gambling Commission taking a closer look at bonus offers such as free bets and spins, and the Premiership’s voluntary ban on front-of-shirt sponsorships, the White Paper proposes very little on gambling advertising reforms.”

The scarcity of advertising policies saw Foster state that the White Paper had failed to achieve one of its primary objectives: rectifying the conditions of the 2005 Ga..

How to lead a company from an unpromising situation to market leadership is a secret most betting and gaming industry executives would love to learn. In Issue 30 of SBC Leaders magazine, FanDuel President Christian Genetski gives readers the inside track on how he and his colleagues managed to do just that.

In a revealing interview to mark Genetski’s imminent induction to the Sports Betting Hall of Fame during next month’s SBC Summit North America, he details not just the many positives of the FanDuel story, but also some of the greatest adversities it has faced.

“After the DraftKings merger was blocked by the FTC in August of 2017, FanDuel was pretty much out of money,” recalls Genetski. “So we had to immediately do an internal capital raise to keep the lights on and take in just enough money to say, ‘we’ve gotta sell the company, merge the company, or find a path to a much bigger capital infusion in the next nine months’.”

He also talks about his hugely important public affairs wo..

The Parliament of South Africa has received the ‘Remote Gambling Bill of 2024’, tabled by the Democratic Alliance (DA), considered the main opposition party to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) government.

Sponsored by MP Dean Macpherson, the DA’s Shadow Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, the Bill seeks to address South Africa’s inadequate regulatory framework governing online gambling activities. The DA has accused the ANC of “failing to provide adequate protection and regulation within the online gambling industry”.

As such, the DA has submitted the Remote Gambling Bill in response to the ANC government’s 16-year delay in enacting the National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008, which is necessary to regulate online gambling.

The DA stated: “After nearly 16 years, it has still not been brought into operation, meaning that a legal gap continues to exist in the industry. This is highly concerning given the massive strides and advances in online usage since then.”

The..

An investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found 18 offshore websites breaching gambling laws in Australia during the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The 2023 sporting event saw gambling carried out via verticals such as online casinos and slot/gaming machines as well as betting on sporting events whilst play was under way, which is illegal in the country.

An overview of the 200 offshore gambling websites ahead of the World Cup, which Australia co-hosted with New Zealand, reveals that 21 were investigated by the authority due to directly targeting Australian punters.

Following the investigation, three of the offshore gambling websites withdrew from Australia, while the remaining 15 were blocked by internet providers following requests by the watchdog.

Carolyn Lidgerwood, ACMA’s online gambling lead, highlighted how many of the websites targeted Australian gamblers, stating: “Illegal gambling operations often take advantage of high-profile sporting events t..

NOGA, the Netherlands Online Gambling Association, has branded yesterday’s vote by the Kamer to support motions endorsing a ban on online gambling advertising and online slots as “thoughtless and irresponsible”.

Yesterday, Dutch ministers approved by a narrow majority motions brought forward by the Socialist Party (SP) to ban online gambling advertising and introduce a further ban on high-risk games of chance.

Both motions were put forward by SP minister Michiel van Nispen, as part of the Kamer’s ongoing revision of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA Act), the legislative framework adopted in October 2021 to regulate the Netherlands’ online gambling marketplace.

Though approved, the motions will be reviewed by Legal Protections Minister Franc Weerwind, who will determine whether the motions can be turned into law to be voted on by the Senate.

Peter-Paul de Goeij: NOGA
Peter-Paul de Goeij, NOGA’s Director-General, has warned Minister Weerwind to ignore the motions, asserting, “The House i..

The UKGC’s Head of Research Laura Balla has asserted that Britain’s Gambling Survey will assist in “filling evidence gaps” around the impacts of placing bets.

Balla also stated that the data will provide a better evidence base to help “make gambling safer for all”.

The comments follow the commission’s first GSGB dataset publication earlier this year, in addition to the release of the commission’s Corporate Strategy 2024 to 2027, which was published last week.

The Head of Research also emphasised that the new questions on the GSGB were introduced to help the commission meet one of its key objectives of protecting children and vulnerable people from gambling-related harm through effective and enforced regulatory requirements.

Previously, screening instruments such as the Problem Gambling Severity Index were used as a way to determine the evidence base on the impacts of gambling, but Balla explained that “discourse in recent years has expanded to recognise the wider harms that can be..