REGULATION IN IRELAND
to advertising apply to “relevant content”, which is defined broadly. Section 143 of the Act provides that a licensee must, in advertising relevant content or causing another person to advertise relevant content on the licensee’s behalf, comply with obligations imposed in relation to advertising imposed by the Act and, where applicable, imposed by applicable regulations. The “relevant content” to which the Act applies includes relevant gambling activities (i.e. a betting activity, game or lottery requiring a license under the Act), but also includes “in the case of a Business to Consumer gambling license, the licensee of that gambling license”. Therefore, any reference to a licensee in an advertisement would potentially be caught by the restrictions, even where the advert does not depict or refer to any specific gambling activities or promotions. On-demand, streaming services and social media advertising (sections 145 and 146) Section 145 of the Act prohibits the advertising of relevant content on audiovisual on-demand media services 1 (e.g. Netflix, BBC iPlayer) or on-demand sound services 2 (e.g. Spotify, Audible) unless the intended recipient has an account with the service and the licensee complies with the applicable regulations. This restriction would apply to the placement of gambling adverts in the programmes themselves.
in the context of a sporting event. Conversely, the sponsorship of a podcast by a betting company would not benefit from the exemption as the podcast itself is not a sporting event. Additional restrictions are imposed when advertising relevant content on a social media service 3 (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, X) or a video-sharing platform service 4 (e.g. YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn). Section 146 prohibits licensees entering into an arrangement (howsoever described) with another person for the purposes of advertising relevant content on a social media service or a video-sharing platform service unless the recipient has an account with that social media service or video-sharing platform service, and in addition to this requirement, the recipient must also have subscribed to the licensee’s account on that service. The meaning of “subscribe” for the purposes of section 146 of the Act is not clear. One expects that it would mean “following”, “subscribing”, “connecting” or “adding as a friend”, depending on the platform in question. We await further guidance on this point. One would question how operators could run any type of sponsored advertising on social media platforms unless there is functionality to allow this advertising to be shown only to subscribers. A further consequence of this is that it will make it more difficult to increase subscribers to and engagement with licensees’ accounts. It also creates a substantial barrier to new entrants in the market who will find it extremely difficult to grow their social media following organically. Social media companies, video sharing platforms as well as licensees will each need to update their advertising terms of service to ensure that section 146 of the Act is complied with. Whilst the restrictions in the Act have been diluted from the initial draft of the legislation (which required recipients of gambling advertising explicitly to opt-in to receiving gambling related content), the provisions remain very restrictive for
There are exemptions provided in the Act to cater for situations where logos, trademarks or marketing images of a licensee at a sporting event or details of the sponsorship of a sporting event by a licensee are visible or audible in the content. Therefore, logos on Premier League football jerseys, which are visible on Match of the Day highlights on BBC iPlayer or a reference to a licensee sponsored event (e.g. the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase or the Unibet Champion Hurdle) discussed on a podcast would be permitted as they are displayed/mentioned 1 An on-demand media service is defined as “an audiovisual media service provided for the viewing of programmes at the moment chosen by the user and at the user’s request on the basis of a catalogue of programmes selected by the provider of the service” 2 An on- demand sound service is defined as a service where “(a) the principal purpose of the service, or of a dissociable section of the service, is to provide sound programmes or sound recordings by electronic communications networks to the general public in order to inform, entertain or educate, and (b) that service is under the editorial responsibility of the provider of that service” 3 A social media service is defined as “a website or software application … that permits a person who is a registered user of the service, has an account with the service or who creates a profile with the service to do any or all of the following— (a) create, share and view user-generated content on the website or application, (b) generate content on the website or software application that can be viewed by other users of the ser- vice, or (c) communicate with other users of the service” 4 A video sharing platform service is defined by reference to the Irish Broadcasting Act 2009 as “a service, where— (a) the principal purpose of the service is devoted to, (b) the principal purpose of a dissociable section of the service is devoted to, or (c) an essential functionality of the service is devoted to, providing audiovisual programmes or user-generated videos, or both, by electronic communications networks, to the general public, in order to inform, entertain or educate”
IMGL MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2025
PAGE 39
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker