Bulgaria: Will a ban on gambling advertising lead to the end of the industry?

Bulgaria has had a strict ban on gambling advertising for some time now. Since then, the operators of online casinos have been complaining about a significant drop in revenue. But can a strict ban on gambling advertising alone be responsible for the fact that the revenue of an entire industry is significantly lower?

A few months ago, the Bulgarian parliament decided to completely ban advertising for gambling of all kinds. Since then, even licensed gambling providers have not been able to advertise on television, radio or the internet. Only conventional billboard advertising is still permitted under strict conditions in accordance with Bulgarian law. More than five years ago, we at GambleJoe reported on the false hopes of gambling in Bulgaria.

Gambling providers complain about plummeting revenues

With the introduction of the strict ban on gambling advertising, the revenue of licensed gambling providers in the south-east European country has also fallen sharply. Several large gambling providers such as Betfair and Betway have already left the Bulgarian gambling market. The remaining providers are now complaining about the sharp drop in website visits to online casinos and betting providers and are calling for an end to the strict advertising ban.

Since the introduction of the advertising ban, page views have fallen by up to 17% at the billion-dollar gaming group Entain. As a result, a similar amount of revenue has probably been lost. Back in December last year, we at GambleJoe asked ourselves how sensible a gambling advertising ban can be in principle.

Bulgarian parliament takes tough action

The Bulgarian parliament passed a corresponding law some time ago, which came into force in May of this year. Since then, there has not only been a complete ban on advertising for gambling, but also the stipulation that no gambling arcades may exist at all in towns with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants.

While gambling advertising on TV, radio and the internet is prohibited, the new law still allows billboard advertising for gambling. However, the law stipulates that at least 10% of the advertising space must be printed with warnings about the dangers of gambling. In addition, a minimum distance of 300 metres must be maintained from every school and playground.

Bulgaria increasingly unattractive for gambling providers

In addition to the fact that there is now a strict ban on gambling advertising in Bulgaria, the country is not really attractive for the industry from other perspectives either. For example, the licence fee for betting providers in Bulgaria is now the equivalent of 204,000 euros. By way of comparison, until recently it was ‘only’ 51,000 euros. And this is despite the fact that only around 6.5 million people live in Bulgaria. In neighbouring Romania, the fee structure is even less attractive for providers. Here, online casinos have to pay an annual fee of 500,000 euros.

It is currently unlikely that the situation for gambling providers in Bulgaria will improve in the future. It is therefore likely that even more licensed providers will leave the Bulgarian gambling market in the coming weeks or months. Ultimately, this development could once again benefit the black market, which naturally does not adhere to the applicable laws and is therefore trying to aggressively recruit new players despite the ban on advertising.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/bulgarien-flagge-himmel-2115804/