Insights into the Belgian gambling advertising ban: the need for a comprehensive public policy approach

Despite strong lobbying efforts from the gambling, media and sports industries, the Belgian federal government issued a Royal Decree in July 2023 that bans most forms of gambling advertising. The decree prohibits both targeted (e.g. emails and text messages) and untargeted (e.g. television, radio and social media advertisements) forms of gambling promotion (Constandt, 2023). However, the decree includes several exceptions and transition periods, meaning that a ‘total ban’ on gambling advertising has not yet been implemented in Belgium—what exists is more accurately described as a partial ban (De Jans et al., 2024a). For example, sports sponsorships by gambling companies are permitted until the end of 2024. After that, shirt sponsorships will still be allowed in limited forms—such as placements not on the front of shirts—until the end of 2027. Eventually (from 2028), this exception will only apply to amateur (grassroots) sports organizations. Other exceptions include business-to-business advertising, incidental advertising during sports broadcasts, promotions within gambling venues, product placements abroad and advertising on the websites and social media channels of rights holders. These stricter regulations on gambling advertising in Belgium came into effect on 1 July 2023. While it is still too early to conduct a comprehensive policy impact analysis, some initial insights can be drawn from the ban. A key observation highlights the partial nature of the ban. Gambling advertising has become significantly less visible in public spaces, on the radio, on television and on social media. However, some of the most prominent forms of marketing, such as sports sponsorship are still visible and prevalent, thus exposing and targeting multiple vulnerable groups to promotions for gambling. Recent research underscores the specific risks associated with gambling sponsorship as a subtler and more implicit form of marketing, where consumers may be less aware that they are being influenced to gamble (De Jans et al., 2024b,c). There is also a noticeable shift towards exploiting the forms of gambling advertising that are still permitted with legal loopholes being fully utilized. For instance, gambling companies are reallocating their advertising budgets to optimize their own media channels, sponsor sports organizations’ good causes through their corporate social responsibility entities (e.g. charitable foundations) instead of the sport organizations themselves, and target amateur sports. To be more effective, a total ban on gambling advertising appears both appropriate and necessary to denormalize gambling particularly for children, and to disrupt pathways to gambling products and brands. Numerous studies have demonstrated the influence of gambling advertising on gambling attitudes, intentions and behaviours, with a disproportionately negative impact on at-risk groups (see e.g. Bouguettaya et al., 2020; Thomas et al., 2023a; García-Pérez et al., 2024). Research also suggests a ‘dose-response’ effect, indicating a positive relationship between the extent of gambling advertising and gambling-related harm (Bouguettaya et al., 2020). In other words, the less gambling advertising there is, the less gambling-related harm occurs. The common industry argument that a total or partial ban on gambling advertising would drive customers to unregulated, illegal and thus unsafe gambling markets is not supported by scientific evidence. No such shift has been observed in Belgium, where gambling itself is not banned (Constandt, 2022). Customers searching for gambling products online (such as via search engines) are still directed towards legal operators, as this form of advertising remains permitted. Other predicted negative outcomes, such as financial losses for media companies or a decline in the competitiveness of Belgian sports organizations, have also not materialized. While having legislation on gambling advertising is important, enforcing it is equally critical. In Belgium, violations of the Royal Decree on gambling advertising are not consistently penalized. Fines are sometimes conditional or inadequately enforced; in 2023, only 21% of all fines for gambling law breaches were collected (Beckers, 2024). The Belgian gambling authority, responsible for enforcing these regulations, is currently understaffed and under-resourced, hampering the effective implementation of the ban. A strong, independent gambling authority is essential to ensure that such a ban is not merely symbolic. Ideally, gambling policies should be grounded in independent (i.e. not funded or influenced by the gambling industry or those who profit from gambling) scientific evidence rather than influenced by commercial interests and political lobbying. In Belgium, the Federal Ministry of Justice commissioned two studies on gambling sponsorship to inform the Royal Decree. The first study systematically reviewed the gambling sponsorship literature, highlighting the risks of gambling sponsorship and indicating a positive association between gambling sports sponsorship and consumers’ gambling attitudes and intentions (De Jans et al., 2024b). The second study conducted two experiments to examine the causal links between exposure to sports sponsorships by gambling companies and the effects on consumer, team and brand outcomes and the exploratory mechanisms involved (De Jans et al., 2024c). When extrapolating Belgium’s specific situation, it is evident that a partial ban on gambling advertising is insufficient to prevent gambling-related harm. Official figures from the Belgian Gambling Authority show that the country’s gambling market generated €1.7 billion in Gross Gambling Revenue in 2023, representing a 50% increase in just 2 years (Kansspelcommissie, 2024). While future data are needed to fully assess the impact of specific policy measures, a more comprehensive public health approach to regulating gambling is required. This approach should address gambling’s presence, visibility and normalization in society, with a focus on evidence-based prevention initiatives, banning the most harmful gambling products, curbing industry lobbying, critically examining the close relationship between gambling and sports and implementing a total ban on gambling advertising to reduce gambling-related harm (McGee, 2020; Price et al., 2021; Constandt et al., 2022; Thomas et al., 2023b,c). The Belgian experience may provide interesting insights, as the Royal Decree on gambling advertising will be complemented by a more comprehensive online gambling law in September 2024. This new law will couple the advertising ban with a ban on gambling bonuses and raise the minimum age for all gambling products to 21 years. The Belgian experience offers valuable lessons for other countries currently considering gambling advertising bans in terms of policy development and implementation. The authors have conducted studies on gambling commissioned by the Belgian Federal Ministry of Justice (Project ID: 173C0123). They have also received gambling research funding from The Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) (Project IDs: G007023N and 12R9222N) and the Belgian Science Policy Office (Project ID: 12U4523).