It's official. The Government, after the Council of Ministers held on Tuesday and awaiting its appearance in the Official State Gazette (BOE), prohibits 90% of the advertising of betting houses. Many 'sticks' are those that this law touches, as Alberto Garzón, consumer minister, explained at a press conference.
It is forbidden to broadcast any announcement of this type of company except in the time slot from one to five in the morning. However, “these messages will have to be greatly restricted following the established norm and thus avoiding stimulating the compulsive use of this activity”, the minister pointed out. In the same way, “you will not be able to advertise bookmakers on the internet, nor can celebrities lend their image for their ads.”
But how does it affect football? First, sponsorships of this type are not allowed in sports kits or events of this type. The betting operators, for their part, will not be able to sponsor sports activities or football teams. In the same way, it is prohibited to seek their patronage either in a primary or secondary way.
This translates, as LaLiga president Javier Tebas already recognized in a ceremony in Valencia, in an impact to the employers and their teams of 90 million euros. A hard blow for Spanish football, which will have to make a strong economic readjustment, which despite this advocates “regulation not prohibition.” And it is that more than half of the entities of the categories belonging to professional football have a sponsor in the betting houses. 70% of Primera clubs are linked, whether with the name of the company on their kit or not, to this type of activity. Only Eibar, Elche, Getafe, Huesca, Real Sociedad and Valladolid continue without their sponsorships.
The situation it worsens in Second where 73% of teams use company houses as sponsor, some having their name silkscreened on the kit. Zaragoza, Las Palmas, Fuenlabrada, Oviedo, Albacete, Ponferradina, Mirandés, Sporting, Málaga, Logroñés, Sabadell, Mallorca, Leganés and Alcorcón make up this list.
Penalty after passing the deadline
But nevertheless, the contracts already signed between the club and the betting house should not be revoked until next August. Thus giving the government time for the teams to find an alternative for that important part of the income. “They will have a transitory one sports season, that is, until August, to be extinguished. As of that date they will not be able to be renewed nor to exist any type of publicity ”. In this sense, Garzón has already warned the First and Second Division clubs that other ‘sponsors’ should be sought for the following season.
Those who do not comply with the provisions of the next BOE will be sanctioned according to the sanctioning regime of Law 13/2011, regulating gambling. Thus, breaches will be serious and operators may be penalized with fines of between 100,000 and one million euros and with the suspension of its activity in Spain for a maximum period of six months.