Danish Gambling Releases Detailed Update of its Promotional Marketing Guidelines

Denmark’s Gambling Authority, the DGA, has unveiled a significant overhaul of its existing regulations governing gambling marketing and sales promotions.

The new directives, released by the DGA on July 16, are in response to rising concerns about player safety in Denmark’s thriving online gambling sector.

In 2024, Danish gambling revenue totaled DKK 7.27 billion, primarily driven by the growth of online casinos. 

The move is also set to elevate national compliance measures for all of the country’s licensed gambling operators.

As a result, the two key policy papers—the Guide on Duty of Disclosure Regarding Marketing and the Guide on Sales Promotion—have been updated to Versions 3 and 5, respectively.

These latest revisions clarify what gambling firms must disclose across all their various advertising formats, while also introducing new limitations on future promotional content campaigns.

Included in the changes are guidelines that explicitly cover social media, SMS, audio, and other so-called “limited-space media” formats. 

Encompassed within this is a new requirement for firms to include age disclaimers, along with several other disclosures, regardless of the brevity of the advertisement.

Reinterpretation of Denmark’s Gambling Marketing Rules

Notable amongst the sweeping changes, the DGA set about broadening its definition of marketing. 

As of now, this will include any form of gambling brand promotion or publicity designed to proactively enhance the company’s reputation, even when not directly promoting gambling products or services.

For instance, the use of company logos in editorials or third-party content may now also trigger compliance penalties, depending on how the DGA determines the context and intent of the material.

Additionally, sales promotions such as game challenges, cashback schemes, and boosted odds will also come under greater scrutiny. 

For example, game challenges cannot encourage players to increase their wagering spends, while cashback promos must apply universally without any additional hidden terms.

Boosted odds, too, must now be treated as a sales promotion, with all promotional terms clearly stated alongside every offer. 

Here, a vague reference to a gambling platform’s playthrough requirements or “free” offers will no longer be acceptable.

Improved Terms of Transparency and European Consumer Protections Push

Further to the updated marketing mandates, the DGA will also enforce that every gambling promotion in Denmark must include a specific mention of consumer protections.

These include detailing the statutory age limit, the responsible gambling StopSpillet helpline and self-exclusion register (ROFUS), as well as the official DGA compliance label.

The DGA also stipulated that these disclosures must be visible within the core of the advertisements and not hidden in post comments or separate links. 

The changes will impact gambling firms that utilized social media marketing in the past, where their required disclaimers appeared as a supplementary message.

Another compulsory change means gambling operators cannot use the word “free” in any promotion unless there are no strings attached – a standard the DGA considers almost impossible to meet in a commercial gambling context.

The rollout of the new Danish marketing regulations reflects the move by other European nations to improve consumer protections; however, the DGA is now considered one of the strictest. 

Meanwhile, in Finland, last month, Veikkaus announced a new partnership with OpenBet ahead of Finland’s anticipated gambling reform set to take place in 2027.

The post Danish Gambling Releases Detailed Update of its Promotional Marketing Guidelines appeared first on CasinoBeats.