Why marketing is regulated differently from other industries
A bank can advertise a savings account without a regulator worrying that the advert itself causes harm. Gambling advertising is different because the product carries risk, because the audience includes children and people who have chosen to stop, and because the industry spends heavily on advertising, sponsorship and bonuses. Regulators treat advertising as part of the licence, not a separate matter for advertising standards bodies alone. In Britain, for example, the Gambling Commission's licence conditions require operators to comply with the CAP and BCAP advertising codes, so a breach of those codes is also a licence breach.
The rules come from three layers: the gambling regulator's licence conditions, the general advertising standards regime (self-regulatory codes enforced by an advertising authority in many countries), and consumer protection law. An operator has to satisfy all three. In Britain the licence conditions also bar marketing that amounts to a misleading action or omission under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, so the Gambling Commission can act on a breach found under any of the three layers.
The universal principles
Whatever the jurisdiction, the marketing rules reduce to a handful of principles.
Do not target children or appeal to them. Advertising must not be placed where children make up a significant share of the audience (in Britain, more than 25% of the audience), must not use themes, characters, celebrities or styles likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s, a stricter test that replaced "particular appeal" in 2022, and must not feature anyone who is or seems to be under 25 gambling or playing a significant role. Sports sponsorship has become the battleground here, since football audiences are young and shirts are seen by everyone; several countries now restrict or ban gambling sponsorship of sports. The Netherlands, for example, has barred online operators from sponsorship since 1 July 2025, and Premier League clubs agreed voluntarily to remove gambling sponsors from the front of matchday shirts from the end of the 2025/26 season.
Do not exploit vulnerability. No suggesting gambling solves financial problems, no portraying it as a way out, no targeting people who have self-excluded or shown signs of harm. Marketing to a self-excluded customer is treated as a serious breach across regulated markets; in Britain, operators must remove a self-excluded person from their marketing databases within two days.
Be honest and not misleading. Odds, bonuses and terms presented accurately; significant conditions stated up front, not hidden; no implying that a bet is a sure thing or that skill guarantees winning.
Be socially responsible. No linking gambling to sexual success, social status or toughness; no encouraging irresponsible play; no urgency tactics that pressure people to bet now, such as the "Bet now!" calls to action that British guidance says are likely to breach the rules.
Carry the required messaging. Age restrictions, responsible gambling messages, helpline details and licence information, in the required prominence. In Britain the industry code requires a safer gambling message or a reference to a support service on screen throughout every television advert.
Bonuses and promotions
Bonuses are the most regulated marketing device because they are where customers are most often misled. The rules typically require:
- Significant terms (minimum deposit, wagering requirements, maximum bet while wagering, expiry, game restrictions) to be shown with the offer, not buried in terms and conditions. In Britain they must appear at the point of sale and on the advert, or no more than one click away where space is too short.
- Wagering requirements to be fair. Britain has capped them at 10 times since 19 January 2026, and at the same time banned promotions that mix gambling products, such as betting and slots.
- No promotions that stop a customer withdrawing their own deposited money until a bonus has been played through.
- No offers that encourage a customer to increase play in response to loss, and none sent to customers who have self-excluded or shown strong indicators of harm.
- Fair handling of promotional disputes. Under British consumer law, where a term could have different meanings, the reading most favourable to the consumer prevails.
Some markets have gone further: Sweden, for example, allows a licensee to offer a bonus only the first time a customer plays, which, lottery-only licensees apart, limits bonuses to a single welcome offer. Where they are permitted, the promotion calendar of a marketing team is reviewed by compliance before it runs.
Affiliates
Affiliates are third parties who send customers to an operator for a commission. They run comparison sites, bonus listings, tipster services, social media accounts and email lists. From the regulator's point of view, the affiliate's marketing is the operator's marketing: if an affiliate advertises to children, makes misleading claims or emails self-excluded customers, the operator is in breach. In Britain this is written into the licence: operators are responsible for the actions of third parties they contract with, and the advertising code applies to affiliates acting on an advertiser's behalf.
This means the operator must approve affiliates before working with them, contractually bind them to the rules, monitor what they publish, and cut off those who breach. The British industry code also requires due diligence and sanctions checks on every affiliate. Affiliate compliance is a discipline in its own right, with tools that scan affiliate sites for prohibited claims and missing messaging. An operator that cannot say who its affiliates are and what they are publishing has a licence problem.
Channels and their rules
Television and radio. Watersheds in several countries; whistle-to-whistle bans on advertising during live sport in some (in Britain the industry code bars betting adverts before the 9pm watershed from five minutes before a live sports event begins until five minutes after it ends, with horse and greyhound racing excepted); outright bans in others, such as the Netherlands, which banned online gambling advertising on television, radio and in print from 1 July 2023.
Online and social. Targeting controls to exclude under-18s (the British industry code now requires paid digital adverts to be targeted at people aged 25 and over where the platform offers that filter); restrictions on influencer marketing; rules on content that could be shared into children's feeds.
Direct marketing. Email, SMS and push generally require consent under data protection and electronic communications law (in Britain, regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations and the Commission's own consent rule), must offer an unsubscribe, must not go to self-excluded or excluded customers, and are the channel where breaches are easiest to prove.
Sponsorship. Shirt sponsorship, stadium naming, league partnerships: restricted or banned in an increasing number of markets, and where permitted, subject to rules on where the branding can appear.
Outdoor. Restrictions on placement near schools and in areas with high proportions of children. In a 2024 ruling the ASA cleared a Coral campaign on mobile billboards because they had not been parked within 100 metres of a school, the distance the ASA recommends for outdoor adverts for age-restricted products.
Cross-border marketing
An operator must not market to residents of a jurisdiction where it is not licensed, and in many markets doing so is a criminal offence: in Britain, advertising unlawful gambling is an offence punishable by imprisonment, a fine or both. Geotargeting of online advertising, disclaimers on international sites and controls on affiliates who publish globally are all part of managing this. The reverse also applies: a regulator will look at whether an operator's marketing in its market complies even when the campaign originated elsewhere. The Dutch regulator, for instance, does not allow sports teams active in the Netherlands to display sponsors without a Dutch licence.
The approval process inside an operator
In a well-run operator, no piece of marketing goes out without compliance review. The process usually involves a checklist against the applicable codes, a review of the audience and placement, a check that the creative carries the required messaging, verification of the bonus terms against the promotion rules, and a record of who approved it. Campaigns are reviewed for each market separately, since the rules differ. This is slower than marketing teams would like, and it is the reason the operator keeps its licence.
Enforcement patterns
The marketing breaches that draw fines are consistent: adverts that appealed to children (cartoon characters, youth-oriented themes), promotions with misleading terms, direct marketing to self-excluded customers, affiliates running unapproved claims, and adverts placed on sites or channels with young audiences. In 2022 the Gambling Commission fined Sky Betting and Gaming £1.17m after a promotional email went to 41,395 self-excluded customers and 249,159 who had unsubscribed. Regulators also act on volume: an operator whose adverts are simply everywhere, in a market that expects moderation, invites scrutiny. Sweden writes this into law: its Gambling Act requires moderation in the marketing of gambling.
The next and final lesson brings the obligations together into what compliance actually does day to day, and how enforcement works when it goes wrong.