Buenos Aires Province discusses bill banning gambling ads in sport
A lawmaker from Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, has proposed a bill which would ban gambling ads and sponsorships from sport. The ban encompasses sports clubs, their facilities, signage, and kits.
Restrictions posed by the bill
Details of the bill dictate that the usage of branding, logos, and sponsorships related to gambling would be prohibited from featuring on jerseys or in sports venues. The bill also states that such gambling-themed advertisements would not be allowed at commercial properties within a 100-meter radius around such sports venues.
Malena Galmarini, the lawmaker who put the bill forward, stated that the goal of the proposal is to set up better protections against gambling exposure for vulnerable groups, such as minors. She expressed that an additional goal is to prevent gambling addiction.
Speaking about the bill, Galmarini stated that the objective is “not to ban the gambling industry itself, nor its advertising in general terms, but rather to protect a specific and particularly sensitive space; the community sports environment, a setting frequented by children, adolescents, and families.”
She added that the impact of gambling advertisements within sport is “not limited to a single neighbourhood, but is prevalent at all levels of sport.”
Potential enforcement
Enforcement of the measure would fall under the responsibility of the province’s Sports Undersecretary, supported with coordination from the Consumer Protection Undersecretary, as well as the Provincial Children and Adolescents Agency.
Municipalities would be expected to handle on-the-ground compliance, whilst the Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos would, in turn, handle the technical identification of operators subject to the ban.
Through the bill, potential penalties would range from formal warnings to fines ranging from 500 to 50,000 fine units, which is a unit to quantify fines in Argentina.
Furthermore, the provincial Executive Branch would have the capacity to suspend or revoke advertising licenses or permits from offenders if deemed necessary.
Galmarini commented that the bill aims to “uphold substantial public interests, such as public health and the protection of minors against gambling addiction, and constitutes a proportionate initiative, given that it does not prohibit the activity itself or its advertising in general, but merely removes it from the community sports environment.”
Impact on local sports clubs
Football is by far the most popular sport in Argentina, and a number of the country’s biggest football clubs are situated within or around the Buenos Aires Province. This ban, if it were to come into force, could have a marked impact on the local sport industry.
Concerns have been raised about the bill, particularly regarding how sports clubs based in the province would be financially impacted by such a change, including the possibility that they could miss out on opportunities available to clubs in other jurisdictions.
There are a number of clubs this could potentially impact, such as Racing Club, one of the country’s premier football teams, which has Betsson listed as its main sponsor and features on the front of the club’s kit.
Another major club this could impact is Independiente, which features the Sportsbet brand on the front of its jerseys.
Prior federal legislation stalled
Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies had previously approved a federal bill to ban online gambling and sports betting advertisements in late 2024. That bill, however, has reportedly been stalled in the Senate ever since.
With that in mind, Galmarini’s bill could be seen as an attempt to push forward some essence of the federal bill into effect within the Buenos Aires Province.
As the most populous and largest of the provinces, it is not out of the realm of possibility that other areas in Argentina could follow suit and attempt to implement certain restrictions of their own, should the federal bill continue to stall.
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