Bulgaria Bans Gambling Advertising in Media

[Nik0]

Game over for the legal affiliate business in Bulgaria (not that it is huge but I feel really sorry for few guys that invested a lot in the last 5-6 years)....

Today the parliament approved amendments to the Gambling Act which banned any sort of advertising in all sorts of media - websites, TV, radio, printed media.

From now on the only legal way a gambling brand to show up is just physically in very limited cases - e.g. on billboards depending on the location (away from schools etc.) and printed on sport kits used by 18+ (???).

https://www.novinite.com/articles/22...ising+in+Media

[dannyx]

A bit unreasonable because the so-called "legal" bookmakers will no longer be able to advertise on the Internet and offshore will continue to advertise on the Bulgarian market. There can be only one conclusion. The law strengthens unlicensed operators and kills the licensed market.

[Nik0]

I don't think so because offshore bookies have close to no interest in Bulgaria due to its market size and legal complications, just few like 22bet and similar still accept Bulgarians which makes probably 1% of the market share. The legal brands here are already widely known and will keep going, it is just the media and partners cut off from the ads revenue.

[dannyx]

Possibly, I don't know the specifics of the Bulgarian market. However, I see that people from Bulgaria also search in English, so this group of players will find offshore operators. Few of them, I have seen, have Bulgarian language.

Besides, global brands are unlikely to restrict Bulgarians from registering despite the law. And as legal brands will not be able to advertise and when a Bulgarian player types "bookmaker reviews" into google he will not be shown reviews of legal bookmakers but sooner not legal ones. Well unless, and it is very likely that this will be visible only legal bookmakers for many passwords and the rest will simply disappear, or will be somewhere far away.

But it's also obvious that legal brands known for years cover a much larger part of the market than the group I'm talking about, and people searching in English for foreign bookmakers are in a definite minority.

[DanHorvat]

How will they implement the ban on websites?

What happens if a webmaster writes an article about slots and then puts a link to a casino?

[Nik0]

Interpreting and applying laws in Bulgaria is usually a blurred matter so it is hard to tell. I don't think someone would chase small affiliates for 1-2 text links, the actual problem is that legal affiliate programs will close for Bulgarian market by their own decision.

As the defintion of gambling advertising according to the new law is "any form of commercial message, recommendation or action that uses names of gambling games or gambling operators' trademarks and information disseminated in any form, by any means, that directly invites users to participate in gambling games."

[Online Casino Librar]

I'm very sorry to hear about the recent changes in Bulgarian legislation affecting the affiliate business. The new amendments to the gambling law, which ban all forms of advertising in various media, are certainly a significant blow to those who have invested heavily over the past 5-6 years.

It's unfortunate that the only remaining legal ways to display gambling brands are so limited, such as physical signage in specific locations and on sports kits used by those over 18.