Legal Protection Minister Franc Weerwind has announced sweeping changes to gambling advertising regulations and restrictions that will ban gambling ads prohibit football kit and sports team sponsorships.
Gambling firms will also be banned from sponsoring events and programs
Weerwind stated that an associated bill will be introduced in phases with the first stage coming in 2023 and placing a ban on untargeted gambling advertising. The next stage will come into effect in 2024 and will see restrictions introduced on the sponsorship of events and programs by gambling companies. The final stage will come in 2025 when the government will introduce a complete ban on all forms of gambling sponsorship for sports facilities and team kits.
The phased introduction of the new restrictions will give sports teams, that are currently sponsored by gambling companies, a full two and a half years to procure new sponsors.
The plan for the new restrictions was revealed just days after the government announced a ban on celebrities appearing in gambling ads. Since online gambling was formally legalized and launched in October 2021, problem gambling campaigners have said that Dutch people have been flooded with ‘a deluge of gambling advertisements’.
However, local politicians felt that the ban on celebrity endorsements didn’t go far enough and are now pushing for a complete ban on all forms of advertising. The new proposed legislative moves are in response to those demands with Weerwind stating:
“The Cabinet and I think sports are very important. But at the same time I want to suppress gambling and gambling addiction.”
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