by Anton Johan
This week, on March 23rd, the European Commission is set to release a Green Paper on Online Gambling in the Internal Market.
Ahead of this green paper, the European Sponsorship Association (ESA) felt that it should launch a policy statement on gambling sponsorship.
More and more gambling companies are providing sponsorship to sports teams in Europe.
Since 2007, the value of these deals has grown into literally hundreds of millions of dollars, with no signs of slowing down in this lucrative market.
Legal issues naturally vary from country to country since gambling and marketing legislation differ.
The Head of European Policy for ESA, Helen Day said: "We have had discussions with the European Commission about their Green Paper and are keen to ensure that sponsorship is fully understood and correctly presented within it, so ESA will certainly be responding to the consultation."
Among the points raised in the policy statement included the fact that ESA supports steps being taken at a European level to ensure that legal restrictions are compatible with European law and that cross border issues are addressed and dealt with.
The statement also seeks out initiatives that will promote cooperation between the sports and gambling industries.
ESA believes that sports governing bodies and other sports organisations know best for themselves whether a properly regulated gambling operator is an appropriate sponsor for the team.
