Kindred slams restrictive Belgian ad ban

Kindred has flagged major concerns about new advertising restrictions in Belgium, saying they could potentially place the country’s regulated market in jeopardy.

Speaking about the move to EGR, Dennis Mariën, Unibet country manager for Belgium, said the regulated market “will no longer be competitive compared to offshore operators” and the market would suffer as a result.

Mariën pointed out there were no significant barriers to stop Belgian punters accessing offshore unregulated sites.

These sentiments were echoed by the Belgian Association of Gaming Operators (BAGO), which estimated that as much as 50% of the Belgian regulated market share could be lost to illegal offshore operators as a result of the changes.

BAGO said the decree would create “unequal and unfair competition within the legal market, since it would create a competition gap between legal and illegal operators.

Among the new measures to be introduced are an outright ban on online casino advertising, together with a ban on sports betting advertising during live sporting events and a ban on adverts prior to the 8pm watershed.

Addressing these impact on operators, Mariën, said it was “not a positive development for the industry” but that Kindred would accept the new measures “will work closely with key stakeholders to understand what can be done from the industry’s side to prevent further restrictions.”