The Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) was born from the union of the Bet365, Flutter, Entain, Betsson Group, Betway Group, Yolo Group, Netbet Group, KTO Group and Rei do Pitaco Groups, to assist in the discussions and development of the Brazilian betting market sports, based on a greater awareness of the dynamics of the gaming industry.
The IBJR launched, this Tuesday (9), in Brasilia, its Brazilian Advertising Self-Regulation Code for the sports betting sector, to define responsible communication guidelines while there is no official regulation of the sector. The launch took place during the institute's official creation cocktail and was attended by Federal Government authorities, sector representatives, sports betting operators and journalists.
The document presents basic rules and principles for bookmakers to establish sensible and responsible communications with consumers, in order to publicize brands without excessive appeal to the consumption of entertainment products or generate misinformation regarding player earnings.
With a lucrative but still unregulated market, the aim of the institute is to provide basic guidelines for marketing in the betting sector, involving communications made by the press, industry, companies, individuals, brand ambassadors, social media influencers or non-profit organisations. Practical examples of this are advertisements aimed only at people over 18 years of age and the exclusion of messages that refer to the consumption of sports betting products as a way to achieve financial success or family support.
The CEO of the IBJR, André Gelfi, points out that the entity was founded by traditional companies, some global, with vast expertise in operating in regulated markets and believes that it is important to share this know-how to promote responsible gaming in Brazil, which is a recent market.
“The Code proposes guidelines for sports betting operators, agencies and communication vehicles to participate in the promotion of this entertainment market to the Brazilian public, regardless of the imminent regulation,” he explains. “All IBJR members (Grupos Bet365, Flutter, Entain, Betsson Group, Betway Group, Yolo Group, Netbet Group, KTO Group and Rei do Pitaco) have publicly committed to following the code to demonstrate that it is possible to promote the sector in an accountable to gamblers, operators and government.”
The federal government decided to regulate sports betting through a provisional measure that provides for the collection of taxes and establishes rules for this segment and operation in Brazil. The IBJR was present at the public hearing of the Finance and Taxation Commission of the Chamber of Deputies to present itself and contribute to the discussions on the market and its imminent regulation.
Brazilian Advertising Self-Regulation Code (“the Code”)
The purpose of this Code is to establish reasonable and proportionate guidelines for online sports betting operators, media outlets and content producers when running promotions or serving advertisements and advertisements to audiences in Brazil about online sports betting products (“Marketing Communications”).
Marketing communications are defined as personal or non-personal paid messages delivered via media by industry, businesses, individuals/brand ambassadors, social media influencers or non-profit organizations. Marketing Communications can be informative and persuasive and are designed to influence audience engagement with the product.
Although all operators present in the Brazilian market are encouraged to follow this Code, only members of the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) are obliged to strictly comply with all the guidelines of this Code as a precondition for joining and remaining in the institute. As a way of self-regulating its members, any violation of this policy will result in a written warning. In case of recurrence, the offending member will be excluded from the IBJR.
General rule
As sports betting products are used with restrictions and are inappropriate for certain audiences and situations, communications and advertisements must be structured in a socially responsible manner, without departing from the primary purpose of disseminating brands and characteristics, they are prohibited, by text or image, directly or indirectly, including the slogan, the imperative appeal of consumption and the exaggerated offer of the product in any piece of communication.
Basic principles
All signatories to this Code must ensure that the following principles are considered when creating, transmitting and promoting Marketing Communications:
- Marketing Communications must be truthful, not misleading or overly promising;
- Marketing Communications must not contain indecent imagery or language;
- Marketing Communications must not portray criminal activities or directly/indirectly incite physical, psychological violence or antisocial behavior;
- Marketing Communications must be easily identifiable and recognizable by consumers;
- Marketing Communications must clearly display the name or brand of the sports betting operator to which it refers, so that players can easily identify the sender of the message;
- Marketing Communications must not degrade the image or status of people from any ethnic minority, religious group, gender, sexual orientation, political preference or any class protected by Law 7,716/1989;
- Marketing Communications must be responsible and must ensure that children and other vulnerable audiences are not exploited in relation to gambling activities;
- Marketing Communications must not be specifically and intentionally targeted at persons under the age of 18 through the media's target audience filter, style of presentation, content or context in which they appear.
Principles for Marketing Communications Content
Marketing Communications Content must not:
- Awaken hope in the minds of consumers that participation will lead to enrichment;
- Mislead about the possibility or chance of winning, or suggest that repeated use of the product will increase the chances of winning a prize;
- Implicit that the success of the sports betting activity depends on the experience and knowledge of the consumer;
- Present, directly or indirectly, that the use of sports betting products is necessary to achieve financial or social/sexual success, solve personal problems or increase personal attractiveness;
- Promote the use of the product as a means of recovering lost amounts from previous bets or other financial losses;
- Suggest or offer credit to consumers, thus understanding the act of anticipating resources to the bettor that later have to be paid/returned to the operator or a third party;
- Suggest sports betting activity as an alternative to employment, financial investment or as a way to obtain financial security;
- Presenting a win as the probable outcome of a bet.
Protection of Minors
- All Marketing Communications must clearly contain an '18+' symbol or legal notice such as 'not for persons under 18';
- Persons appearing in Marketing Communications must not be younger than 25 years old. This also applies to the image, voice or any other characteristics inherent to minors;
- Marketing Communications must never imply that minors may play or place sports bets online or offline;
- Marketing Communications must never present sports betting as a sign of maturity or coming of age, nor encourage minors to participate in sports betting;
- Marketing Communications must not be intended to attract the particular interest or attention of minors. They must not contain symbols or language intended to attract them, nor must they use visual, sound, verbal or written elements specifically intended for this public;
- Marketing Communications must not use the image of people or characters, real or fictional, of public relevance or notoriety that specifically or mainly attract minors;
- Marketing Communications must not appear on any targeted media channels that may be accessed by minors;
- Marketing Communications must not be broadcast in advertising spaces immediately before or after programs aimed specifically or with priority at minors;
- Marketing Communications on social media platforms (such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Tik Tok, etc.) must not use pages, blogs, channels or “influencers” whose main audience is minors;
- In Marketing Communications on social networks, signatories to this Code must ensure that social networks with user profiles have filtering mechanisms that restrict viewing of Marketing Communications by minors under 18 years of age.
Responsible Gaming Messages
- All Marketing Communications must include a standardized message (eg, play responsibly) designed to promote responsible gaming wherever possible. Such a message must also appear in all forms of media;
- All signatories to this Code must ensure that there is some degree of standardization in relation to responsible gaming messages. Here are some examples of messages used in other jurisdictions:
- If it's not fun anymore, stop playing.
- Have fun, but play it safe.
- Use common sense when playing with real money bets
- Winners know when to stop.
- Know your limit and play within it.
- Please play responsibly.
- Play for fun, not to win.
- Don't let the game play you.
- [Potential future inclusion in all Marketing Communications of a Brazilian equivalent of the website www.begambleaware.org to be funded by signatories to this Code – details to be agreed at a later date by IBJR members].
- All online advertising banners must provide a link to more information about the product with some reference to the responsible gaming web pages owned by the bookmaker/operator; or even to a generic source of information about safe gambling as a Brazilian equivalent to the website www.begambleaware.org.
Airing times
- Television Marketing Communications must not be broadcast between 6:00 am and 9:00 pm local time;
- An exception applies to Marketing Communications surrounding live televised sporting events which may occur from one hour before the scheduled start of the sporting event to one hour after the end of the sporting event.
Sports team sponsorships
- Marketing Communications about commercial sports team merchandising (ie football kits/training equipment, etc.) must never be directed towards minors;
- Sports betting operators who are signatories to this Code must ensure that their logos or any other promotional material does not appear on any commercial merchandising designed for use by minors.
Source: GMB
