A look at other European countries clearly shows that many have already recognized the problem of sports betting advertising. In Germany, however, only sponsorship of well-known professional athletes has so far been banned, so a newly founded alliance is calling for a ban on sports betting advertising. We will now reveal who is behind the alliance and what demands are being made.

The new alliance presents itself to the public

The homepage of the alliance against sports betting advertising has only been active for a few days. To introduce itself to the public, the alliance has issued a press release. In it, the alliance briefly introduces itself and at the same time explains what the organization does. Some of the members have expressed their opinion in the press release. They clearly explain the essence of the alliance: the regulation of sports betting advertising in Germany to protect the population from the negative consequences of gambling addiction.

For example, Dr. Tobias Heyer from the University of Bremen made the following statement: "Massive sports betting advertising is the opposite of effective addiction prevention practice." He refers to the fact that addicted gamblers are encouraged to gamble by advertising and newcomers are encouraged to bet. The German government partially understood these problems and therefore banned the sponsorship of famous athletes. After all, they would have a role model function, so many fans are motivated to bet because of the advertising on the shirts.

Who are the members of the alliance?

Apart from a few individuals who are themselves affected by gambling addiction and therefore want to draw public attention to the problem, numerous organizations are members. These are invariably gambling addiction organizations and youth protection organizations. All of them are working together to make sure that gambling advertising largely disappears in Germany. At the same time, however, a call is made to strengthen prevention and encourage those affected to visit the relevant help organizations. This can help them to solve existing problems.

It is therefore not surprising that the following organizations are members of the alliance:

• Youth protection (preventive) in the city of Frankfurt am Main
• Glücksspielfrei eV - Federal self-help association for gambling addiction
• Fachverband Glücksspielsucht eV (FAGS)
• State Office for Gambling Addiction in Bavaria
• Bavarian Advisory Council for Affected Persons
• Transparency Germany - Coalition against Corruption

The above list is not complete, it contains only a few examples. However, they clearly show that the alliance also focuses on manipulation and fraud in sports.

Criticism of the alliance

The Alliance Against Sports Betting Advertising criticizes not only the fact that advertising exists at all but also how it is carried out. On its website, the organization indicates that Tipico spends over 160 million euros on advertising in one year. Of course, this does not come without a backstory. The alliance criticizes such facts because they only lead to sports betting enthusiasts placing more bets and placing higher stakes. The advertisements suggest that sports fans can profit based on their skills. But the outcome of the game does not have much to do with competence. There is also the problem of manipulation that changes the outcome of the game.

The Alliance also sees a danger in the welcome bonus and other free bets that bookmakers repeatedly offer. You can see examples of this phenomenon on the portal www.oddsbett.com. This encourages betting enthusiasts to place new bets. The meaning of this: sports betting providers increase their own profits, while players often fail to meet the set sales conditions. The same applies to the bonus when a new customer is invited. The sports betting provider earns again thanks to this bonus because sales conditions are also attached to them. If you fail to implement this, you will lose all the winnings you could have earned. Another problem is the limited offers from sports betting providers that no player wants to miss. This increases the pressure on players to get the offered bonus on time.

Details of the requirements

In its press release, the alliance notes that sports betting advertising has already increased in recent weeks. Now that the Bundesliga has started, the alliance expects even more advertising. Therefore, at the moment, the organization is appealing to the public. The alliance has in mind other countries that either ban gambling advertising completely or limit it in time so that at least minors are protected. Other countries have limited the duration of television advertising and the number of advertising blocks. One European country has ruled that risks should be pointed out in the same way as in cigarette advertisements.

Once an advertisement encourages people to buy a product or, in the case of sports betting, to gamble, the alliance calls for limiting sports betting advertising as much as possible. As this alone is not enough, prevention should also be strengthened. In addition, players should be encouraged to visit the numerous existing drug treatment centers and other help organizations if a gambling addiction has developed. However, the Alliance's demands do not end there. At the same time, it is necessary to promote research into the impact of betting advertising on sports. According to the alliance, it is necessary to conduct research on the link between the increase in sports betting and sports betting advertising.

Personal responsibility should be demanded

The Alliance pays special attention to the protection of children and young people. Nevertheless, the ban on sports betting advertising aims to protect every individual. However, this will be achieved only if there is a legal ban or at least strict restrictions on advertising. This is the first step for the alliance. In addition, it is necessary to ask sports betting providers, associations and clubs to show more initiative and to limit advertising of their own free will or even to abandon it completely.

But the media must also take more responsibility. Neither the homepage nor the press release discloses what ideas the alliance has in this area. As a rule, the media will be able to limit or even completely stop publishing advertising only through the law. This is also clear to the alliance, which is why it calls for a transitional phase in which the personal responsibility of all involved is made clear before it can be regulated by law. Incidentally, the EGBA is working internationally on very similar issues.

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