The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has cautioned that the new ad restrictions in Spain could lead to an increase in illegal gambling, as well as a detrimental impact on the football clubs in the country.

Proposals by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs will see online gambling ads only allowed between 1 am-5 am, with no exceptions for sporting events, a complete ban on gambling sponsorship of sports uniforms, kits and stadiums, and a ban on welcome bonuses.

The state-involved lotteries of the world, which account for 65% of the revenue from the gambling industry, will be exempt from the key elements.

The government is scheduled to finalise the regulations in Autumn this year, with a three-month transition period for gaming firms to adapt to the law changes.

EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer has explained: “Advertising has a crucial role to play in informing consumers which websites are regulated, and which are not. The near absolute advertising ban proposed in Spain will deprive Spanish players of any information where they can play in a safe and secure environment.”

The EGBA claims that unregulated gambling in Spain is already a problem, with 414 unregulated sites blocked in April-May alone this year by the country’s gambling authority.

The proposals will also have a negative impact on 41 of 42 football clubs in La Liga, which currently reel from COVID-19’s financial impact, costing them up to €80 million in lost advertising revenues.

“This is highly counterproductive and we urge the Spanish authorities to reconsider the proposals, and focus instead on strict regulation of the contents of advertising,” Haijer stated.

“We fully agree that advertising should be responsible, both in terms of content and design, and that is why we recently published a code of conduct on responsible advertising.

“The code offers practical ways in which gambling advertising can be conducted in a socially responsible way and as a conduit for informing citizens about important consumer protection measures, such as age restrictions and safer gambling tools.

“Finally, exempting state-involved lotteries, which account for two thirds of Spain’s gambling market, from the restrictions is unjustified, protectionist and discriminatory.”

Australian lottery and betting operator Tabcorp Holdings has entered into an exciting new international partnership with the Major League Baseball (MLB). The deal positions TAB as the official wagering partner of the MLB in Australia.

TAB will bring exclusive MLB programming and promotions to Australian fans in TAB venues around the country, as well as via the TAB app and website.

The multi-year agreement will allow TAB’s 4400 live venues to have access to the MLB Network, which is the Major League Baseball’s 24/7 television channel. Venues will be able to air up to 10 live games per week. MLB fans in Australia will also have access to the MLB Network from home on the TAB website or TAB mobile app.

Australians will also get the chance to access exclusive MLB promotions including tickets, player experiences and competitions.

“There is growing demand for U.S. sports content in Australia, particularly among TAB punters. Baseball is America’s national pastime and this groundbreaking MLB deal – which complements our NBA and NFL partnerships – helps us to fulfill our ambition of being the home of US sport in Australia and to deliver superb experiences for our customers, both in venues and digitally via the app and website,” Adam Rytenskild, Tabcorp’s Managing Director for Wagering and Media, said.

“We are looking forward to working with Tabcorp to bring exciting baseball content to millions of fans in Australia via TAB and Sky. When the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks played the Opening Series games at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground in 2014, we saw how much baseball resonated with Australian sports fans. We want to continue to help develop baseball in Australia and grow the game nationwide. Between TAB’s retail footprint and wagering expertise, we’re confident that this partnership is a significant step towards elevating baseball in Australia,” Kenny Gersh, MLB Executive Vice President for Gaming and New Business Ventures, said.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has announced the plans to develop a web crawler to actively seek out online gambling websites and prevent people from accessing them.

Currently, the ministry with its special team Cyber Drone 9 is operating a “web crawler” used to systematically seek out negative contents on the Internet, mainly those related to pornography and radicalism.

The government has so far never blocked websites directly, but asked Internet operators to block those contents violating the law in Indonesia.

At a meeting with lawmakers at the House of Representatives, the ministry’s Information Applications Director General Semuel Pangerapan, told them about the ministry’s plan to include online gambling under control.

“We also want (contents related to) gambling to be controlled this way,” Pangerapan said.

“We will propose its budget next year, for a stronger machine to control,” he said, adding that with the machine, the government can directly block the websites.

The ministry is proposing 1 trillion Indonesian rupiahs (US$69.5 million) for the machine in 2021.