EGBA imposes a pact for gambling influencers

In a context where influencers shape the choices of internet users, the online gambling industry is facing a new requirement. On 21 October 2025, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) took the initiative to launch a Pledge on Responsible Influencer Marketing in Online Gambling, an unprecedented commitment to strictly regulate the use of influencers in the promotion of gambling. 

A pioneering initiative at the heart of the gambling sector

Online gaming operators have long been subject to advertising codes, such as the Code of Conduct on Responsible Advertising developed by the EGBA. However, until now, there have been few specific texts concerning influencers, despite their central role in digital marketing strategies.

The EGBA, in collaboration with the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), has therefore decided to fill this gap. Their new pact is intended to be the first Europe-wide framework for influencer content in the gaming sector.

According to the official statement, this pact is not limited to declarations: it imposes concrete standards around three major areas, with a clear objective: to reconcile advertising, influence and consumer protection.

Three pillars to guarantee integrity

1. Strengthened advertising standards

The first pillar of the pact aims to ensure that online gaming content is transparent, responsible and inaccessible to minors. To achieve this, the key principles are:

• age verification to prevent minors from accessing content promoting gambling,
• content moderation and audience demographic controls to prevent publications that appeal to young people from being distributed to a vulnerable audience,
• a clear transparency requirement — influencers must indicate when a publication is sponsored or promotional.

The idea is to build on the ban already in place in the EGBA Code, which prohibits any advertising that is child-like or targets minors, but also to go further by controlling the audiences targeted.

2. Strict criteria for selecting influencers

The second pillar requires EGBA member operators to work only with carefully selected influencers who have demonstrated responsible marketing behaviour. These are no longer just commercial choices, but ethical choices.

The criteria required include:

• compliance with European and national advertising legislation,
• acceptance of ongoing training to keep up to date with developments in the legal and self-regulatory framework,
• a history without any major breaches in relation to gambling-related communication.

In this way, the EGBA hopes to create a network of aware and responsible influencers, reducing the risk of abuse.

3. External monitoring and rapid removal

Finally, to ensure the effectiveness of the system, the pact provides for independent monitoring of influencer content. Members undertake to have third parties regularly check publications, report and promptly remove any non-compliant communications.

This mechanism aims to avoid grey areas: no content should slip through the net. Prompt removal is an essential part of the accountability process. 

The formats concerned are all those produced by influencers – posts, stories, videos, live streams, or any other digital format – without exception. 

What are the scopes and limitations of this pledge?

This pact applies exclusively to EGBA members, online gambling operators licensed within the European Union. For them, it is a moral obligation, but not yet a legal one. Influencers who are not members are not directly bound by this oath, except contractually by operators.

As Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of the EGBA, points out:

“As the online advertising landscape continues to evolve, we are proud to be at the forefront of the industry with the first comprehensive standards for influencer marketing in the European gambling sector. This commitment demonstrates our members’ commitment to responsible advertising and to going beyond regulatory requirements to ensure the highest standards of transparency and protection of minors in their partnerships with influencers.”

In the short term, this pact could strengthen the credibility of the gaming industry in the face of criticism about the influence of social media, particularly among young audiences. Operators adopting these standards could use them as an argument in their compliance and public communication policies.

Beyond that, the initiative is part of a broader trend: identifying and preventing risky behaviour before it becomes pathological. In line with this approach, the EGBA recently participated in the adoption of a European standard on markers of harm in gambling, with a view to detecting early signs of addiction. 

A turning point with conditions

The EGBA initiative marks an important step in the regulation of digital marketing related to gambling. By establishing a code of conduct for influencers, the association is demonstrating a clear ambition: to make a sector prone to abuse more responsible.

However, the effectiveness of this pact will depend on rigorous monitoring, the willingness of operators to adhere to it, the quality of verification mechanisms and, ultimately, consumer confidence. This pledge could become a model for other sectors facing the ethical challenges of digital influence — provided that it is enforced not through coercion but through credibility.