In May 2024, Finnish Operator Veikkaus received a request for clarification from the Police Board about its advertising in connection with television programmes that are also watched by minors. The company responded to the clarification request and adjusted its operations in cooperation with the authority. As a result, Veikkaus’ advertising will no longer appear in certain programme environments.

Veikkaus has received a marketing ban from the Police Board dated 12 November 2024 enhanced by a fine. It refers to the clarification request from May and highlights the wrongly placed advertisement that happened in July as a violation. In addition to this, it brings out new perspectives on the placement of advertisements in connection with television programmes. They have now included new programmes aimed at adults, but may also be of interest to minors. Examples include popular Saturday night entertainment programmes.

“It seems that the Police Board may interpret the matter in a new and broader way. We have been in contact with the Police Board as soon as the decision was made and we are going through this issue with them. We need clarity so that we know how to act correctly,” Anu Kytö, sales and marketing director at Veikkaus, said.

“We are very sorry that, despite our joint development measures, our advertising has been seen in the advertising breaks of programs aimed at minors due to human error,” Kytö added.

Veikkaus’ advertising is bought in such a way that the target group is people aged 25 and over. The media office books and the television channel places the ads based on viewer profiles. The instructions have been reviewed together with the Police Board.

“Veikkaus has been buying TV advertising from us for years, with an age distribution set for the purchase: more than 70% of the program’s viewers must be adults. This is a jointly agreed model that has been valid for years and is known to the authorities. Now we are waiting for possible new instructions,” MTV’s commercial director Sauli Asikainen said.

The ban is valid for three months and its validity begins 30 days after notification. The Police Board imposed a fine of 2.9 million euros as an effect of the marketing ban.

Bacta is at the forefront of initiatives to encourage responsible gambling with the leading trade association for the land-based low-stake sector joining the Betting and Gaming Council, the Lotteries Council and the Bingo Association as organisers and supporters of the 2024 edition of Safer Gambling Week (SGW) which runs 18–24 November.

With a core objective of encouraging people to talk and take action to gamble responsibly, the initiative which is running for its eighth year, will feature what the official SGW web site refers to as a “blitz” of safer gambling messages online and in land-based venues in order to spark a nationwide conversation about responsible gambling and the safeguards that have been put in place by the regulated industry.

George McGregor, Bacta’s Executive Director (Government Relations), believes the initiative continues to make a significant contribution to the industry’s endeavours to reduce further the incidence of problem gambling.

He stated: “The first point to make is that Safer Gambling Week draws attention to what Bacta members are practicing every week and every day of the year. This commitment and culture is something that every Bacta member should be extremely proud of.

“The consumer-facing Safer Gambling website poses a series of questions to consider and outlines how to use safer gambling tools such as setting time and deposit limits and how to self-exclude from gambling.”

He added: “As an awareness raising initiative Safer Gambling Week has demonstrated its value. Safer Gambling Week 2023 smashed previous social media records, generating over 50 million impressions across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

“The website received half a million visits and the campaign engaged with a large number of cross-party MPs and peers who gave their backing as did Premier League clubs West Ham United and Brighton and Hove Albion.

“Safer Gambling Week demonstrates that Bacta, its members and the industry at large is fully committed to delivering a safe, responsible and enjoyable gambling entertainment experience for all of its customers.”

Macau’s 2025 casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) is forecast to reach MOP240 billion ($29.9 billion), says the Office of the Chief Executive (CE), in the financial-year 2025 budget plan published on last Thursday, and which has been submitted to the city’s Legislative Assembly.

That would be a 31.1% rise on the MOP183.06 billion achieved in 2023, the first year of trading since pandemic-related restrictions were lifted. It would be an 82.1% recovery rate compared to the MOP292.46 billion in the pre-pandemic trading year of 2019, as per data of the local regulator.

The 2024 budget plan predicted MOP216 billion GGR for this year. The tally for the calendar year to the end of October is MOP190.14 billion. The 2025 budget would represent year-on-year growth of 11.1% from the forecast for 2024.

The 2025 budget plan estimates the Macau government will collect MOP84.0 billion in gaming taxes from the city’s six casino concessionaires for financial year 2025. That is calculated based only from the levy of the so-called “special gaming tax”, which stands at 35% of GGR for the current 10-year gaming concessions that started from January 1, 2023.

With other contributing levies for social causes, the effective tax on Macau casino GGR is 40% for the current concession term.

“It is estimated that the recovery momentum of the integrated tourism and leisure businesses for the next fiscal year [2025] will continue, with a continuous rise in inbound tourist volume, albeit their travel and consumption patterns may see changes,” the Office of the Chief Executive stated in its fiscal year 2025 budget plan.

“Integrated tourism and leisure businesses” is a term used by the authorities to indicate the casino resort sector.

The chief executive office added: “Considering all factors, the fiscal year 2025 gross gaming revenue is estimated to reach MOP240 billion. Such is the principal fiscal income that serves as a foundation for the Macau Special Administrative Government in formulating the fiscal year 2025 budget plan.”

Post the Covid-19 pandemic, Macau’s fiscal income had seen a “gradual recovery” since 2023, as economic improvement had been led by the integrated tourism and leisure sector, the document also mentioned.

For the whole of fiscal year 2024, the Macau government had forecast it would collect MOP75.6 billion in gaming taxes from the casino concessionaires, levied as special gaming tax, according to the 2024 budget plan.

The 2025 plan will be current Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng’s ultimate fiscal-year budget proposal before stepping down at the end of his five-year term.

Sam Hou Fai, most recently president of Macau’s Court of Final Appeal, the city’s most senior judicial position, is to succeed Mr Ho as the city’s leader, with a swearing-in ceremony to be held in December.