Online Gambling Firms Gearing Up for UK Advertising

2007 August 27, Charlie Black

Online gambling firms on the UK-approved "White List" are gearing up for strong television advertising campaigns when the new advertising laws come into effect on September 1.

Online casinos, sports books and poker rooms will be allowed to commence television advertising campaigns due to the recent passing of the Gambling Act 2005, which brought a relaxation of previously strict gambling advertising laws.

It is unknown which of the "White List" online gambling companies will commence immediate television advertising campaigns on September 1, but it is expected that most of the online gambling giants will commence their TV advertising campaigns early in an attempt to generate brand awareness in the UK market.

All commercials will be regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority, and gambling operators themselves recently announced their own code of practice in an attempt to show they can act responsibly under the relaxed rules.

The Guardian quoted John Shepherd, Director of Corporate Communications at PartyGaming (Party Casino and Party Poker), as saying: "We are going to advertise on TV but as to when and what, we not disclosing. I think that people will start straight away. I think you will probably see a slow build-up, and then you have got big events like the Rugby World Cup coming up which is where you will probably see a peak in advertising."

UK broadcasters have welcomed the new laws, anticipating a large boost in revenues from online gambling companies in the last quarter of 2007.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, online gambling firms are spending big in lobbying to support Rep. Barney Frank's bill, which seeks to regulate online gambling in the US. Frank's Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007 has been introduced in the US House of Representatives and seeks to create a regulatory framework to license internet gambling in the US, whilst at the same time providing appropriate protections against underage and compulsive gambling, money laundering and fraud.

Rep. Frank said the existing UIGEA legislation "is an inappropriate interference on the personal freedom of Americans" and that the current legislation "has left Americans who choose to gamble online without meaningful consumer protections".