SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Glücksspiel (GGL), the Federal Authority of German Gambling, has awarded its “Gambling Advertising Study” to eye square GmbH, a media research group.
As announced on 10 August, the GGL published its tender requirements for a “study coordinated with Germany’s 16 federal states,” titled “Gambling advertising on television and on the Internet in the area of conflict between channeling and addiction prevention.”
The ‘Gambling Advertising Study’ forms part of the GGL and Bundestag ongoing evaluation of the Fourth Interstate Treaty on Gambling (GlüNeuRStv), implemented on 1 July 2021. The treaty introduced a new regulatory framework for online gambling across Germany’s 16 federal states.
The tender winner, eye square GmbH, is a Berlin-based media and marketing agency, which is reported to have “prevailed against four competitors.”
GGL announced that the “study will run for two years” as part of the evaluation of the Fourth Interstate Treaty on Gambling (GlüNeuRStv), needed to determine how effective current advertising rules and regulations “guide consumers towards legal gambling offerings without encouraging excessive interest or vulnerability in gambling.”
Further directives will examine advertising on ‘vulnerable groups’ as a key criterion of the study, to understand the influence of gambling advertising and sponsorship on consumer habits.
The study will further evaluate the scope and coverage of gambling advertising in Germany across all media platforms. This requirement is necessary to understand the overall impact and marketing strategies applied by operators.
It was further confirmed that the study will evaluate the promotion and engagement of audiences with incentives such as the granting of bonuses and discounts to attract/retain customers.
2024 will see GGL proceed with two separate evaluations on the Interstate gambling market, having previously awarded its ‘Player Protection Study‘ to the Institute of Public Health of the University of Bremen (Lower Saxony).
As it stands, the GGL is yet to present its plans and recommendations on how to implement a new advertising code for gambling, a mandate which must be reconciled by the individual Bundesländer (state) authorities to be passed into federal law.
