Bookmakers are offered access to advertising banners for sporting events

Bookmakers are offered access to advertising banners for sporting events. Currently, the use of outdoor advertising to promote games and betting is prohibited: to legalize the segment, changes will have to be made to the Law “On Advertising.” Previously, foreign brands Nike, CocaCola, Procter & Gamble were major sponsors of sporting events, but they left Russia, according to participants in the advertising market. Bookmakers have a positive attitude towards the initiative: the measure will allow them to attract a new audience.

The Outdoor Advertising Committee, part of the public organization “Business Russia” (the chairman of the committee is the executive director of Russ Outdoor Robert Mirzoyan, the structure includes the CEO of AdMetrix Ilya Shershukov, a member of the general council of “Business Russia” Sergei Dubkov), proposes to allow the presence of logos of bookmaker organizations on banners advertising sporting events, Russ Outdoor told Kommersant. The rationale is that after the “imposition of sanctions,” it is the bookmaker companies that provide “tangible support for Russian sports.” The proposal was announced during the committee’s first meeting on September 7.

If lifting restrictions helps import substitution, stimulates the growth of domestic production and supports the development of sports, this could serve as “a compelling basis for discussions,” Maxim Topilin, a representative of the Committee on Economic Policy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, said at the meeting. His words are given in the protocol (available to Kommersant). The State Duma Committee and the FAS did not answer Kommersant.

Advertisers have been cutting budgets since the beginning of the pandemic (see Kommersant, March 18, 2020). The market began to recover in 2021, but after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, foreign advertising platforms (YouTube, Google Ads, etc.), as well as almost all major advertisers, left Russia. Among them were Nike, CocaCola, Procter & Gamble. They actively used promotion through sporting events, notes Kommersant’s interlocutor in the market.

Bookmakers have already been located at sports facilities, notes Anton Eshtokin, marketing director of the information and analytical portal “Bookmakers Rating”. As an example, he cited the Russian Premier League football tournaments, the Russian Cup and the Continental Hockey League, when logos of sponsors – legal bookmakers (Fonbet, BetBoom, BetCity) could be found on the frame of the stadium. “If bookmakers are allowed outdoor advertising, this will consolidate the existing situation, and will also give bookmakers without large sponsorship contracts access to the market,” the expert noted.

Today, the use of outdoor advertising to promote risk-based games and betting is prohibited, emphasizes Dmitry Gorbunov, partner of the law firm Rustam Kurmaev and Partners: “However, the law does not prohibit the placement of a banner with the bookmaker’s logo on the building in which the office operates, or in a sports facility.” . Placing logos on banners will require changes to Art. 27 Federal Law “On Advertising,” says the lawyer. “By delaying the procedure for amending legislation, we indirectly continue to contribute to maintaining the leading position of imports,” says Robert Mirzoyan, executive director of Russ Group of Companies.

Today, the segment can be present in the format of logos on the uniform of a sports team, added BetBoom PR Director Mikhail Danshin. He clarified that BetBoom is a partner of FC Dynamo Moscow, FC Ural and the professional basketball club MB: “The company also has a partnership with the Federation of Billiard Sports and Surfing.” In his opinion, the initiative will lead to a redistribution of bookmakers’ marketing budgets.

Market participants interviewed by Kommersant believe that the initiative will expand communication channels with the audience. Fonbet noted that in 2022 they paid out about 4 billion rubles. targeted contributions for the support and development of sports. The company also extended the agreement with FC Lokomotiv, expanded the pool of sponsorship contracts in the Russian Premier League and the Football National League, supports Rubin, CSKA and Krylya Sovetov: “As a bookmaker, it is important for us to show the efforts we make in terms of support of sports in our country.”

Yulia Yurasova