Online Gaming and Advertising in the UK - Now and the Future

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) currently regulate the advertising of gambling services in line with the relevant legislative provisions in the Betting and Gaming Act 1963, the Gaming Act 1968 and the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976.

Current Online Gaming Advertising Practice

These bodies require advertising of these services to be completed responsibly, not targeted at those under the age of 18, do not exploit the vulnerable and do not encourage excessive gambling.

It is generally agreed by these bodies that websites based overseas can make people aware that they exist and the URL to access the website can be displayed but any incentive to gamble is not allowed. There is a fine line to strike in terms of getting this right in determining what is responsible advertising and where the adverts are placed to capture the best market possible for the e-Gaming and gambling services being offered.

Under the current legislation it is currently illegal for any sort of e-Gaming services to be offered that is run as an operation within the UK. This is due under the current legislation not allowing gaming to take place unless it is performed face to face. As a result e-Gaming services are based offshore with the operations run remotely into the UK. Other jurisdictions currently offer much more favourable e-Gaming laws than the current UK legislation.

Television advertising of most e-Gaming services is prohibited by the advertising code, which is administered on behalf of ASA by OFCOM. However, under current legislation, e-Gaming and online gambling companies are permitted to sponsor television programmes.

Future Online Gaming Advertising Practice

The Gambling Act 2005 comes into force in September 2007. This will permit licensed UK operators to establish and offer e-Gaming services to the UK market. The current practice for e-Gaming advertising will as a result not change before this date.

This new Gambling Act 2005 changes the definition of advertising, in relation to gambling, to include sponsorship. This definition is quite wide and it will be down to the Secretary of State to make regulations about the form, content, timing and location of non-broadcast advertisements for gambling, while OFCOM will continue to be responsible for setting standards for the broadcast advertising of gambling. These standards may stay the same in line with responsible advertising within the UK not encouraging people to gamble but just to make people aware of the existence of the e-Gaming services.

There will also be an offence introduced under the Gambling Act 2005 for the advertising of foreign gaming and gambling. Foreign gaming and gambling under the Gambling Act 2005 is defines as gaming and gambling as that which takes place outside the European Economic Area, or, if organised by remote means, is not subject to any regulation by an EEA state. The Secretary of State will have the power to specify additional, non-EEA, states that will be exempt from the foreign gambling offence.

Conclusion

Online gambling and gaming services are allowed currently to advertise within the UK. Any advertising must be done responsibly and must not induce or encourage gambling or gaming. This leaves advertising the existence of the service and the location. Any advertising under the new Gambling Act 2005 is still to be regulated by the same bodies as before and is unlikely to change radically with the exception of the advertising of companies from outside the EEA being an offence.