What should advertising look like with betting regulations?
Written by :
Heloisa Vasconcelos
Today, without regulation in Brazil, betting houses are everywhere: on TV, on the radio, in advertisements on social media. Anyone who consumes sports content has certainly heard of some kind of bet.
Advertising in this market is set to change with the regulation of sports betting, expected later this year. Bill 3.626/23 was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in September and contains some requirements for advertising by betting houses.
The text, which will still be voted on by the Senate, establishes that only regulated betting houses will be able to broadcast advertising and that operating agents must carry out awareness-raising actions regarding the risks of gambling.
The more specific rules will be established by the Brazilian National Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (Conar).
The topic is controversial and the text of the bill may undergo changes when it passes through the Senate. Among the amendments proposed by senators, there is even a defense of a complete ban on advertising by betting houses.
Sports Betting Advertising
The bill that deals with the regulation of fixed-odds betting establishes some rules, such as:
- Restriction of times, programs, channels and events for broadcasting advertising and promotion of bets, in order to prevent them from being disclosed to minors.
- Prohibition of advertisements that make unfounded claims about financial gains or that present betting as a source of income.
- Prohibition of advertising with statements from well-known personalities or celebrities that suggest that gambling contributes to personal or social success.
For the professor of the advertising and propaganda course at the Mackenzie Communication and Literature Center, Júlio César Leandro, the text approved by the deputies brings important points for the broadcasting of advertisements in this market.
He compares the rules applied to those followed by the alcoholic beverage industry, for example. He believes that self-regulation by Conar should follow similar guidelines.
The professor believes that the ideal way to regulate advertising in a market like this is for the rules not to be set in stone by law, and to be able to adapt over time.
“ I am in favor of a regulation that provides transparency, that can be monitored and can improve over time according to what happens – Julio César Leandro ”
Conar working group
Conar set up a working group to discuss advertising on sports betting at the end of July.
The group is made up of representatives of the founding and co-founding entities of Conar, the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) and the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL).
“The members of the Working Group will discuss the establishment of self-regulatory rules, which should reinforce compliance with current national regulations, and may stipulate additional restrictions, based on the study of the international regulatory framework and care for the protection of consumers and vulnerable groups, particularly children and adolescents,” Conar reported.
“ These are measures that basically create a slightly more standardized dynamic among all participants in this market – André Gelfi ”
Member of the group, the president of IBJR, André Gelfi, states that the meetings are being quite fluid and that the rules regarding advertising of sports betting must seek a balance between responsibility and commercial viability.
He believes that, despite the existence of senators who want to ban advertising for the sector, the government should not take extreme measures.
“The government’s guidance did not seem extreme to me in any way, in the sense of banning advertising. I see a concern in allowing the market to develop, which I think is essential to prevent informality,” he says.