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Continuing a gambling regulation overhaul, Lithuania has introduced a near-total advertising ban to be phased in during the next three years.
Fresh from beefing up its enforcement powers and threatening fines more than ten times higher than the current maximum, Lithuania’s government has approved a broad gambling marketing prohibition.
From the start of 2028 it will be illegal to advertise gambling anywhere in Lithuania, the government said on Tuesday (November 12).
The only exception is the ability to publish the name and trademark of a gambling company on its headquarters or a building where it operates gambling, and information about the kinds of gambling offered there.
A similar restriction applies online, with operators only allowed to advertise on their own websites, and only via simple informational posts.
These rules, along with the rest of the amendments, kick in from July 1, 2025.
Gambling ads will continue to be allowed on TV, radio and the internet until the end of 2027, but subject to new timing restrictions.
From 6am to 6pm, no more than three gambling commercials can run per hour, each of which should not be longer than 15 seconds. From 6pm to 12am, the two identical adverts can run every hour.
Timing restrictions also apply to static ads online. Between 6am to 6pm, website gambling marketing will no longer be allowed to appear in pop-up windows and cannot exceed more than 20 percent of the available advertising space on a website. Between 6pm and 12am, ads can take up no more than 10 percent of the possible ad space.
Gambling sponsorships will be banned from 2028 onwards, with the prohibition extending to “ sponsoring of any kind of public events, activities, natural and legal persons by the company organising gambling”, the government said.
During the period between now and 2028, sponsorships will continue to be allowed for betting companies, including online operators, so long as they “comply with the requirements established by law”, said the government.
Lithuania’s budget has set aside €4m to compensate media companies for the lost revenue.
In the same amendment, the government also moved to ban slot machines from cinemas, railway and bus stations, airports, seaports and post offices.
The move to restrict advertising comes less than a week after Lithuania’s parliament approved a separate amendment that supercharged fines and introduced other responsible gambling requirements.
Fines will now be calculated against gross annual income, with the average fine size expected to rise to around €700,000, from a current cap of €50,000.
Operators will also be required to “identify gamblers who are on the verge of problem gambling and to stop their gambling in a timely manner”.
