In an effort to cut back on gambling advertisements, the Irish Department of Justice will explore the storefronts of bookie shops. Minister of State at the Department of Justice James Browne said it’s “something that is going to have to be looked at.”
Browne published the Gambling Bill, which covers advertising and marketing by gambling companies, according to The Irish Independent.
A spokesman for the minister was unable to expand on what this could mean for bookmakers who have shops with visible signage in towns around the country. “There are no further details at this stage,” he said.
Four years after its launch, Paddy Power in 1990 conducted a brand awareness survey with Lansdowne Market Research in which it asked the public how it knew the company, with 42 percent saying through its familiar shopfronts.
While gambling has become digitized since then, the attractiveness of traditional betting shops is a significant issue for the government and the Department of Justice.
When informed of the minister’s comments, the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA), which represents bookies and betting shop owners, said it had not been aware of the issue and would seek more detail from the department before commenting.
Under new industry-enforced rules, the IBA has set out two immediate changes to betting: a ban on credit card transactions and an end to “whistle-to-whistle” advertising—live ads broadcast during active events.
The Irish Independent recently reported that William Hill is refusing to support the new code. The company insists it does not operate physical shops in Ireland and so is exempt from such rules.
In related news, former Paddy Power directors have called for more changes to the oversight of the betting and gaming industry. Former CEO Stewart Kenny and Chairman Fintan Drury have created the “Stop Gambling Harm Now” initiative.
Browne said new regulatory powers include the ability to revoke or suspend gambling licenses, freeze player accounts, and block payments to operators, according to SBC News.
Sporting and political stakeholders have criticized betting commercials during sports events’ among them are President Michael Higgins, the Irish Labour Party, the Gaelic Athletic Association, Gaelic Players Association and the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland.
Paddy Power founder Stewart Kenny said since legislators on both sides of the Irish Sea have been slow to address gambling-related harms, owners should have a greater say in dealing with it.
The lack of action owes to the “tax revenues and wider economic considerations involved in calling an industry of such scale into line. Politicians are the first line of defense for society’s well-being so there can be no let-up in keeping this issue front of the political mind in any democracy where requisite controls are not in place,” Kenny said.
Drury wants to see the growth of online gambling held in check.
“It’s not easy to challenge some fundamentals of an industry where you once had a leadership role,” he wrote. “It leaves you exposed to the hypocrisy charge but the evidence of a global increase in problem gambling is incontrovertible, so if you understand its source and don’t trust the industry, then it seems important to highlight the problem.”
New measures introduced by Flutter earlier this year include a ban on credit card payments, a reduction of its deposit limit for online gamblers under 25, a whistle-to-whistle ban on TV advertising during sports broadcasts.
In related news, JB Smoove and Patton Oswalt appear in Caesars gaming ads. But those ads play in the U.S. Relying on a celebrity or influencer in an ad campaign in Australia, Spain, and the U.K. face more hurdles, according to Lexology.
