Finland's parliament is debating a countrywide ban on all gambling marketing, which would include online poker and live poker tournaments.
Currently, state betting and lottery companies can advertise through sponsorship but the ban would forbid indirect advertising and other sales promotion activities, including all sponsorship in exchange for the display of a brand’s logo. That means gaming operators could neither sponsor sports events or players, nor brand media such as caps or cabs, even when no direct enticement to gamble is made.
Finnish courts have maintained that their state-owned gambling monopolies do not violate EU law, in spite of the EU Commission official complaint filed against Finland’s gambling monopoly in 2006 (which is still pending), and legal challenges from companies such as Ladbrokes and Paf.
