Bulgaria banned the opening of casinos in cities with less than 10,000 inhabitants and completely prohibited gambling advertising in all forms of media, Euractiv informed.
The bill, introduced less than a week ago, was put to a vote on the last working day of parliament. Proposed by GERB (EPP) and DPS (Renew Europe), the legislation received an impressive 198 votes in favour, with not a single negative vote or abstention in Bulgaria’s 240-seat parliament.
Although gambling advertising became particularly prominent in 2015, when the country’s biggest gambling boss Vasil Bozhkov and his private lotteries became the biggest advertisers in Bulgarian media, parliament eventually shut down his business in 2020, after which the US imposed sanctions on Bozhkov for corruption.
The closure of Bozhkov’s gambling business in 2020 opened a gap for several smaller online gambling operators, which became the largest source of revenue for Bulgarian media within three years. According to official figures for 2023, gambling companies spent 85 million euros on media advertising, with Bulgarian companies Efbet and Winbet, as well as Greek company Betano, getting the largest share.
Hundreds of new casinos and gambling halls have been built in Bulgaria’s largest cities over the past three years. In 2023, aggressive advertising of gaming sites overtook Bulgarian television completely during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The ban on gambling adverts has not gone unnoticed by national TV channels and several news sites, which announced on Monday that they rely heavily on adverts from betting sites. They warned that the new law could hamper media independence. The Association of Bulgarian Broadcasters (ABRO) added that the financial sustainability of the media, including through gambling adverts, was essential for quality journalism.
A ban on advertising in the media is a ban on the provision of a media service within the meaning of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
Commercial broadcasters claim they will be deprived of huge annual revenues, making it difficult to broadcast major sporting events.
Once the law is passed, gambling companies will only be allowed to advertise outdoors on billboards at least 300 metres away from schools, kindergartens, universities, playing halls and sports facilities and equipment, except those intended for children. Gambling advertising in the media will be allowed only for the state lottery “Bulgarian Sports Totalisator,” the profits from which finance Bulgarian sport.
At the same time, similar restrictions have been imposed on the Romanian gambling market, in which some Bulgarian companies have shown serious interest. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu warned gambling companies on Tuesday that their licences would be revoked if they failed to comply with a law banning slot machines in small towns, an attempt to tackle the country’s alarming level of gambling addiction.
