Members of the Latvian Licensed Gambling Association (LLAB) have voluntarily broadened the scope of advertisement and sponsorship restrictions set to come into force on April 1.
On top of those law changes, members have adopted a new industry responsibility code, further tightening rules around sports sponsorship and bookmaker branding.
The already legislated amendments to Latvia’s Gambling and Lottery Law set out the circumstances in which betting operators would be allowed to display logos when sponsoring sports events, organisations and athletes.
The voluntary code now means that those same operators have agreed to limit their distribution of sponsorship announcements featuring betting trademarks on social media or their digital platforms.
The fear is that many of these platforms primarily target minors – so, to that point, the code also stipulates that any such content they do publish must not be designed or placed in a way that specifically appeals to under-18s.
Where its possible, members have also said they will apply age-verification and restriction tools to sponsorship content shared on social and digital media.
LLAB Executive Director Līga Līce said: “The changed advertising rules are part of a proportionate regulation of the licensed gambling industry.
He went on to argue that the previous wholesale ban on gambling advertising in Latvia was too restrictive, suggesting: “This is one of the reasons why the proportion of the shadow economy in the industry remains consistently high in Latvia. Without naming the brands of licensed organisers, it is impossible to inform players about which sites are legal and safe, unlike illegal sites, where the principles of responsible gaming do not work and there is a huge risk of fraud.”
Under the updated code, warnings about gambling addiction must account for no less than 10% of the total advert area and feature a link to Latvia’s self-exclusion register.
Sponsorship messaging must also not imply players are guaranteed winnings.
According to recent data, 47% of the Latvian population don’t know that both licensed and unlicensed gambling sites are available on the internet in Latvia
