Amendments and Supplements to the Gambling Act were adopted, affecting outdoor advertising

In May 2024, Amendments and Supplements to the Gambling Act were adopted. Some of the new rules affecting outdoor advertising are:

1. Advertising of gambling games is allowed:

• On external structures such as billboards located at a distance of no less than 300 meters from educational institutions, universities, community centers, playgrounds, student and youth dormitories, as well as from facilities providing social services to children and young people;
• On the facade of a venue for organizing gambling games under this law, for the activities of the gambling game organizer in that venue, provided that the total area of the advertisements and signs does not exceed twenty percent of the facade and is no more than 50 square meters.

2. The advertisement may include the following information:

• The names, types, and varieties of the gambling games;
• The registered trademark of the organizer, and if an event is being held, the name (title) of the organizer;
• The draws of the lotteries and the announcement of the winnings.

3. All advertisements, except for sports equipment, must have at least 10 percent of their area occupied by the text: “Gambling carries a risk of developing addiction.”

4. It is prohibited to include numbers in the advertisement. Advertising of gambling games on outdoor advertising structures is prohibited on more than 5 percent of the total advertising area of each provider of advertising services through outdoor advertising structures.

5. Persons who publish, broadcast, or distribute advertisements of gambling games in violation are subject to a property sanction ranging from BGN 10,000 to BGN 30,000 or a fine ranging from BGN 5,000 to BGN 10,000.