It's been a month since legal gambling organizers and responsible media companies started to comply with the rule banning gambling advertising. However, as expected, no miracle happened, and gambling advertising did not decrease. Why? Because the ban affected only legal gambling organizers. Illegal operators, including lottery operators, gladly took advantage of this opportunity and significantly increased their advertising on all available platforms. If no measures are taken, this trend will continue, leading to a worsening of gambling addiction among players.
The ban on legal gambling advertising worked exactly as I expected. The vacuum in the gambling advertising niche did not even have time to form, because illegal casinos and lottery operators immediately became active. Currently, they are actively pumping the information space with their advertising and affiliate content through dubious online media and pirate sites.
At the same time, legal gambling organizers were forced to stop advertising their services due to the ban. This has resulted in a very dangerous imbalance, as potential players will now constantly see the names and advertisements of illegal brands, while legal ones will not be mentioned. It is not worth counting on players to check for licenses through the CRGL website. Most of them will not do it. As a result, we will have a significant increase in the number of players on illegal platforms. This means that they will not be identified, will finance illegal companies (probably connected to russia), and will ruin their personal data.
However, in addition to the aforementioned risks, which will manifest themselves in a massive way later, some negative consequences are already felt today.
First, legal organizers lost the opportunity to advertise and thus promote their business and services. "Falling out" of the information space will inevitably lead to an outflow of players, which will create financial problems for legal gambling. It will also affect their ability to maintain their business, pay taxes and license fees.
Secondly, legal media that cooperated with legal gambling companies lost a significant source of income. Usually, these revenues allowed some media to support the functioning of entire sections and sections that had nothing to do with gambling.
Thirdly, illegal companies have strengthened their positions and media presence, and have been able to promote their brands. To do this, they will use absolutely all platforms and any partnership opportunities. And we are not necessarily talking about pirate websites and telegram channels. Even today, at the gas stations of one of the major gas station chains in Ukraine, you can hear the "Play and Win" advertisement from the MSL lottery.
Fourth, legal gambling organizers have always actively supported sponsorship projects, including sports competitions and teams in exchange for advertising. This support allowed financing many sports events that may now be in question.
It is unclear why and how lawmakers support initiatives that strengthen the illegal gambling segment while destroying the legal segment that brings revenue to the state. However, even if we put aside the financial side of the issue, the insignificance of the advertising initiative demonstrates that its results directly contradict the goal for which it was introduced - the fight against gambling addiction. After all, it is the activity of illegal immigrants that is its main cause.
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