IPLyC Buenos Aires chief proposes debate on sports figures in betting adverts
Regulation2 min read
In brief
- IPLyC Buenos Aires president Gonzalo Atanasof called for debate on sports figures in betting adverts and possible broadcast time bands.
- He argued a full ban on authorised platforms' advertising would favour illegal gambling reaching mobile phones.
- He said the province had filed more than 80 judicial complaints over promotion of unauthorised sites.
Gonzalo Atanasof, president of the Buenos Aires Provincial Lottery and Casinos Institute (IPLyC), has called for a debate on the limits of betting advertising and the role of sports figures in it. The source describes this as an invitation to debate rather than a closed proposal, covering both who appears in the adverts and when they are broadcast.
Atanasof said something should be done urgently, including with legal platforms. He said advertising should not be associated with personal success.
Atanasof argued that fully removing advertising by authorised platforms would not end advertising, because illegal gambling promotion reaching mobile phones would spread. He cited Brazil after a decree by President Lula da Silva as an example. According to Atanasof, without willing judges or efficient laws to deal with transnational operators, any restriction on the legal sector is insufficient.
Atanasof said the province had filed more than 80 judicial complaints against people who promoted unauthorised sites. He said that in most cases those promoting the sites claim they did not know. He added that promoting unauthorised gambling is both a misdemeanour and a criminal offence.
Atanasof said the digital format had brought in people aged 18 to 30, whereas visitors to casinos and bingo halls traditionally averaged 35 or 40 and over. He also said more than 56,000 registered informal intermediaries known as "cajeros" operate in the province's unauthorised circuit. He linked that phenomenon to the economic situation.