In December of 2020, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) launched an official review of the gambling laws here in the UK. The review was announced following concerns raised over children’s exposure to gambling activity through football sponsorship and mainstream advertising as well as growing numbers of problem gamblers in the country.
A white paper was due for publication in December of 2021 following one year of research and feedback from both gambling companies and the general public. However, this was delayed due to a cabinet reshuffle that resulted in Chris Philp replacing John Whittinggdale as the UK Gambling Minister.
The new recommendations for changes to the laws and restrictions around gambling are now not expected until May 2022, but what can we expect to see then?
Stricter rules on advertising
It’s highly unlikely that the government will allow things to continue as they are with regards to advertising. A major part of the gambling review is to reduce children’s exposure to gambling and the most likely avenue of approach here would be to put further restrictions on advertising.
How strict the rules will be is anyone’s guess as this would be extremely difficult to manage. This is because technology is constantly changing. It’s no longer a case of banning ads on TV before the watershed. With children spending more and more time online, the new rules will have to ensure that gambling companies and social media platforms have protocols in place to limit any exposure. This will most likely be a work in progress with initial recommendations followed by updates to the rules as time goes by.
Will there be restrictions on promotions?
The government has given no indication that promotions and free bonuses will be affected in any way. Right now, UK gambling companies are allowed to promote offers such as no deposit bonuses that allow new users to test the waters, so to speak, risk free. These are widely used within the industry and considered by many to be non-predatory bonuses as there’s no requirement to make a deposit.
However, this could change if the government were to follow Ireland’s proposed approach to free bets in its own gambling review. Should proposals in Ireland be signed into law, free bets and bonuses with any free incentives will be banned outright.
Over in Ontario where iGaming has just been legalised and will launch in April, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) will allow bonuses and promotions but has placed a blanket ban on the advertising of these. Gamblers must visit an online casino website and then opt-in to view the promotions.
It’s hard to imagine that the UK government will follow either Ireland or Ontario’s approach as promotions are an integral part of marketing in the UK gambling industry and any blanket ban could have a significantly negative impact on the industry in the short term at the very least.
Gambling in sport
Betting on sports has been an intrinsic part of British society for a very long time and there’s no suggestion that gamblers’ ability to back their favourite team or place a bet on a horse will be affected in any way whatsoever.
That said, there have been questions asked for quite some time now as to the role that gambling companies play in sports such as football. A recent report suggested that the gambling review would recommend a ban on football kit sponsorship deals signed with betting companies. This ties in with the government’s desire to limit children’s exposure to gambling as these companies have wide reaching sponsorship deals in place across both the Premier League and the Championship.
The review may also look into individual football players and other athletes’ ability to sign brand ambassador deals with gambling companies of any kind while they are still active within sport.
When will we know the recommendations?
As mentioned earlier, we won’t know the new recommendations for gambling law changes until May 2022 at the very earliest. There has been no further indication that any more delays are expected so it’s likely that we will see the white paper some time over the next couple of months. Any changes that are recommended though, will need to be discussed and ratified by the government before being signed into law. This means that any actual changes to the laws may not happen in 2022.
