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Authors: Daniel Lloret Irles (Universidad Miguel Hernández), Davide Valenzona (University of Genoa), Elena Gervilla (University of the Balearic Islands)
Background: In the absence of a unified EU legal framework, some countries have adopted varying restrictions on gambling advertising, reflecting growing awareness of gambling as a public health issue. Italy imposed a total advertising ban through Decree-Law No. 87/2018, while Spain introduced partial restrictions with Royal Decree 958/2020. This study compares both regulatory approaches and their impact on the gambling market and consumer behavior.
Methods: A comparative legal and quantitative analysis was conducted. The first part compares regulatory processes, and the means used to regulate gambling advertising. The quantitative section examines economic indicators (gambling expenditure, venue proliferation, and advertising investment) and sociological data (player demographics by gender and age), distinguishing between land-based and online gambling
Results: In Italy, online gambling grew 161% from 2018 to 2023, land-based gambling dropped 47% in 2020, then recovered to near pre-2020 levels. In Spain, online gambling rose 69% (2019–2023), while land-based gambling stayed mostly stable. Gender plays a similar role in both countries: men prefer sports betting and poker far more than women do, while bingo is more gender balanced. In 2022, 52% of male online gamblers in Italy placed sports bets, compared to 10% of women; in Spain, 86% of online bettors were men. Regarding age, in 2022 young people dominate online gambling compared to other age groups: 50% of active accounts in Italy and 65% of players in Spain are aged 18–35.
Discussion: Advertising regulation can influence the public's perception of gambling. However, not many European countries have already imposed restrictions in this sector. In the future, it might be interesting to compare the policies already implemented by some countries such as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
| Conflict of interest | No conflict of interest. |
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