UK Gaming Commission To Assess Opinion

Published: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

UK GAMING COMMISSION TO ASSESS PUBLIC OPINION ON TV GAMBLING ADS

Advertising code drafted with ASA help to be assessed for public reaction

The BBC reported this week that UK-based casinos and gambling websites could be allowed to advertise on television and radio under a relaxation of rules as part of the reformation process being overseen by the UK Gambling Commission.

Drafted by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Gambling Commission, the proposed new code will be submitted to the British public for opinion and input in the coming months.

The code will clarify a provision of the Gambling Act 2005 - to be introduced next year - allowing for advertising rules to be relaxed, although the UK government stresses that the new rules will be subject to "very tight controls".

Betting services, bingo halls, gaming machines and football pools will be covered by the new rules, as well as overseas companies operating online gambling sites.

The current rules on advertising gambling are about 40 years old and are seen by some industry observers as restrictive. In print adverts, casinos are limited to printing largely factual information about their premises. Television adverts for all betting, gaming and lotteries - except for the National Lottery - are banned.

The new code is expected to take effect by September 2007 when the Gambling Act 2005, which allows for more casinos to open, comes into effect.

Gambling Commission deputy chief executive Tom Kavanagh said the code was needed to co-ordinate advertising rules for all sectors of the gambling industry, and would mean that "both online gambling and casinos will have more freedom in what they can say", he added.

"The thinking behind it is really that the current restrictions are around 40 years old and do not make a lot of sense in the current regulatory environment," he said.

A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said casinos were currently "...extremely heavily restricted in terms of advertising. They will, in a limited way, be allowed to advertise more, but adverts will be subject to stringent rules about realism and social responsibility, and controls on when, where and what gambling adverts are allowed to do."

A key provision is that online betting sites based overseas would be banned from advertising in the UK "...unless they meet the same high regulatory high standards we have here," he said.