Politicians push for full gambling ad ban in Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s political party We Continue the Change has proposed a review of gambling advertising to seal off any loopholes left in previous legislation. Centrist in its ideology, the political formation has historically been a vocal critic of the gambling industry in Bulgaria, with the latest call to limit gambling marketing being one of many made over the last few years. Just this July, the party again urged PM Roumen Radev’s cabinet to implement similar measures ahead of the adoption of Bulgaria’s 2026/27 Budget, but was denied by Deputy Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova on the grounds that the government is preparing a full review of the Gambling Act – which recently led to the introduction of a licensing regime for affiliates. Gambling regulations already underwent the biggest overhaul in decades in 2024, when the government adopted tougher rules on licensing compliance, player protection, and gambling marketing. Bonuses and player incentives in marketing material were strictly prohibited, while outdoor advertising became limited to billboards at least 300 metres away from educational facilities. Gambling ads were also completely barred from being shown on TV, social media, radio and print. However, the recent airing of the World Cup on the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) has sparked some controversy. Operators like inbet, Efbet, and 8888 were frequently promoting franchising opportunities and the chance to open a bookmaker shop with them as a partner. And while not explicitly B2C marketing, the branding of these companies was featured heavily during prime time national TV. Efbet bookmaker/Credit: SBC News Ex-Man City Bojinov, 8888 shop/Credit: SBC News MrBit Second League/Credit: SBC News Some of the biggest sports competitions are also sponsored by gambling operators – such as the elite top-tier football Efbet League, the MrBit Second League, and the annual knockout tournament, the Sesame Cup. A number of these were also often advertised during the World Cup – including the tournament’s official betting partner Betano – and are still being promoted during the new football season. It goes without saying that the name of the league cannot be shown without its sponsor, but all of the above combined has led to heavy criticism against BNT and current gambling regulation in general, prompting We Continue The Change to push for another legislative revision. Review of product placement policies According to the Bulgarian National Radio, the party’s draft proposal includes a full outdoor advertising ban, including on billboards, public transport stops, and all buildings – with the exception of land-based venues. Also included in the proposal is logos on sponsored adult sports kits limited to 10x10cm in size, a ban on product placement across all media content, and mandatory gambling harm messages across all other permitted marketing material that takes no less than 10% of the whole advert and is clearly formatted with black letters against a white font. Although gambling harm messaging is already mandatory, some companies have tried to find ways around it by trying to camouflage the letters with the same color as the background when advertising on billboards. We Continue The Change Chairman, Assen Vassilev, added: “We need to seal off the legislative loopholes, such as product placement not being treated as advertising. This is an obvious loophole that is being utilised. “This also goes for the branding of gambling operators not being treated as advertising when you add ‘League’ at the end of it. “When it comes to online advertising, we have a very good example. Currently, the European Union forbids any type of political advertising across all social media, which has led to companies like Facebook and Google to self-regulate in order to remain compliant. “Let’s start working in that direction. We’ve spoken to our European MPs about implementing such an EU-wide measure for gambling as well, so that neither Facebook nor Google can allow online marketing when the user is located in a Member State.” As a sidenote, former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov, who has previously worked with operators LiveScoreBet, JBO and Betfair, recently spoke about his involvement in gambling advertising. He said: “There were billboards with my likeness everywhere. At the time, I had slightly fallen asleep in my own bubble and didn’t realise that what I had done was actually a mistake. “I had to wake up because I underestimated my social responsibility, especially towards young people.” Berbatov-LiveScoreBet/Credit: SBC News