Spain’s ad restrictions led to 55% decrease in new accounts, report finds

Research published by the peer-reviewed Harm Reduction Journal on 13 June showed the number of new online gambling accounts opened in 2023 totalled 1.35 million, down 55% from the 3.01 million registered in 2020, due to Spain’s gambling ad restrictions and bonusing ban which came into force in 2020.

The restrictions also impacted marketing and bonusing spend and the research suggested the ban on welcome bonuses could have been one of the main reasons for the drop in activity among new players.

The data used was collected from company reports and aggregated by Spanish regulator, the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ).

Findings suggested these regulatory measures led to a permanent decrease in gambling behaviour, in particular, new accounts and total GGR. When the Spanish Royal Decree came into force, it imposed a ban on gambling sponsorship deals and heavily restricted TV and radio ads, placing a watershed between 5am and 1am. The use of celebrities and influencers  was also prohibited, as was gambling advertising on video sharing platforms such as YouTube.  

Measures were implemented between November 2020 and August 2021, with the sponsorship ban taking effect from the end of the 2020-21 Spanish football season.

The research paper shows new account sign-ups dropped across three consecutive years after 2020, with the most significant decrease  in 2022, when the 1.37 million sign-ups was down 35% from 2.61 million in 2021. The number had increased year-on-year consecutively from 2015 to 2020.

The Royal Decree is projected to have reduced the number of new accounts directly by 263,000 in Q2 2021 alone. The impact of Covid-19 was incorporated into all models.

U-turn last year

Several of the Royal Decree measures were annulled by Spain’s Supreme Court in April 2024, partially upholding an appeal made by the Spanish Digital Gaming Association. The overturned measures included Article 13, which meant operators could go back to marketing new account holders..

Article 15, prohibiting the appearance of celebrities in advertising, was annulled, alongside the ban on gambling adverts on video sharing platforms which was also overturned.

Falling short of projections

Despite the reduction in sign-ups, overall player deposits increased in all three years after the Royal Decree was introduced, rising from €2.19 billion in 2020 to €3.18 billion in 2023. Deposit limits were set as part of the Royal Decree, capping deposits at €600 per day, €1,500 per week and €3,000 per month.

Total amount bet also went up, from €20.75 billion in 2020 to €26.5 billion in 2023. However, the Royal Decree could have contributed to a small drop in total amount bet in 2022, which was down to €25.25 billion from the €25.33 billion in 2021. 

However, despite the slight increase, the Harm Reduction Journal claimed these numbers fell short of projections as a result of the Royal Decree. Deposits were not immediately impacted in Q2 2021, but began to fall steadily in the two years after the ban came in.

Restrictions hit marketing and bonusing spend

The measures were reflected in advertising spend between 2021 and 2023, as spend reduced from €193.7 million  in 2020 to €191.7m in 2021, the total dropped 39% to €116.5 million in 2022. This increased further to €122.8 million in 2023.

Bonusing spend also dropped significantly in the period, from €189.5 million in 2020 to €165.9 million in 2023. Sponsorship spend fell considerably from €25.76 million in 2020 to €2.67 million in 2022, before rising slightly to €3.59 million in 2023.