The National Betting and Licensing Board in a letter to all betting, lotteries and public gaming license holders, has banned outdoor advertising of gambling, advertising of gambling on all social media platforms, and advertising gambling between 6 am and 10 pm.
This reflects the Kenyan government’s crackdown on betting companies.
The Board in the letter said; “We wish to remind you that gaming has a potential to harm the consumer with a possibility of leading to addiction as well as some disorder,” adding that, “We therefore as a regulator of the industry have a duty to protect its customer, members of the public, the young and vulnerable,”.
The National Betting and Licensing Board also said it will be the approving authority on any form of advertisements regarding gambling, stating that the advertisement will also have to contain a warning message, which must be a third of the actual advertisement and be of the same font.
This new development will most likely affect several betting companies and media houses in the country, especially those who have already enlisted the services of celebrities.
For instance Betting firm Betin, already has an endorsement deal with MacDonald Mariga as its brand ambassador.
The deal entails having Mariga, who is a European based star’s image in Betin’s billboards, Televisions and print newspaper adverts.
MacDonald Mariga who has a football career spanning 12 years, first started off playing for Ulinzi Stars before joining Tusker FC. He then went on to represent Kenya Pipeline while still enrolled in school.
The central midfielder then went on to move to Sweden for two years before relocating to Italy, where he won the Champions League medal with Inter Milan, under Jose Mourinho.
In March 2010, he (Mariga) became the first Kenyan to play in the UEFA Champions League when he came on as a substitute against the English premier league giant; Chelsea in the Round of 16, and against Barcelona in the semi-final.
His endorsement deal with Betin, made Mariga become the second former international to sign such a deal with a betting company as his, came after Betway, another bookmaker, signed up Dennis Oliech.
Online betting firm; Betway In 2016, entered into a one-year deal with ex-Harambee Stars football team captain Dennis Oliech, making him their official ambassador.
The deal entailed that Oliech, a former FC Nantes and AC Ajaccio striker, would represent Betway in various functions around the country.
By the year 2017, there were close to 50 licensed betting firms in Kenya. Of this 50, only 30 are operational today and use mobile money as a payment channel.
Beltway Kenya’s country manager Wanja Gikonyo, says betting companies paid over 4.7 billion Kenyan Shillings in corporate taxes in 2016 alone.
The decision by the Board is also likely to draw mixed feelings from media establishments, as they have also been known to draw revenue from advertisements by the betting companies
