Bulgaria Wants Gambling Ads Gone and Its Affiliates Shut Down

The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria has officially published proposed amendments to the national Gambling Act for public consultation. The comprehensive legislative overhaul, which was introduced during a Council of Ministers meeting on September 23, 2026, seeks to introduce what Prime Minister Rumen Radev termed “practically a full ban” on commercial gambling promotion. The draft bill combines strict marketing restrictions, the complete revocation of affiliate licensing, higher state fees on online gross gaming revenue (GGR), and mandatory real-time data connectivity with the National Revenue Agency (NRA).

The ministry says the bill has two aims, to raise budget revenue from gambling and limit gambling addiction through a full ad ban. “We don’t want gambling to be present in the everyday lives of Bulgarian citizens. We don’t want aggressive advertising that reaches young people and children,” Radev said at the start of the cabinet meeting.

What Survives the Ad Ban

The rewritten Article 10 bans advertising of gambling games, operators, their trademarks and distinctive signs “regardless of the form, method and place of distribution.” The exceptions are narrow. Operators can publish the information needed to organize and take part in games on their own websites and inside licensed venues, and the state-owned Bulgarian Sports Totalizator can still broadcast its draws.

Venue signage stays, but it shrinks. Ads and signs on a gambling venue’s façade can’t cover more than 20% of it or exceed 50 square meters, and at least 10% of that space must carry the warning “Gambling carries a risk of developing addiction.” Illuminated panels and anything with moving or changing content are banned.

Sponsorship Stays, Screens Go Quiet

Licensed operators can still sponsor sports clubs, federations and associations, along with events in culture, health and education. Their marks can appear on team kit, facilities, halls, stadiums and pools, except on kit and products meant for minors.

Broadcasters lose the digital extras. When a sponsored event is shown on TV or online, the sponsor’s name or trademark can’t be added electronically beyond the signs physically at the venue. A separate clause bans radio and TV messages recruiting business partners if they show an operator’s name or logo, even when they say nothing about a game.

Affiliates Lose Their Licenses

This is the part that hits marketers hardest. The draft deletes the affiliate license from the law entirely, and a transitional clause says licenses already issued to affiliate operators “are terminated with effect from 1 January 2027,” the date the law itself is meant to take effect.

The Ministry of Finance’s explanatory memorandum notes that because commercial gambling promotion is being restricted, the legal basis for affiliate mediation ceases to exist.

To enforce these restrictions, the amendment grants administrative powers to the NRA to order internet service providers (ISPs), search engines, and social media platforms to block non-compliant websites, mobile applications, and streaming profiles. This regulatory approach contrasts with recent European precedents, such as the United Kingdom’s parliamentary reviews, which favoured formal affiliate registration over total market exclusion.

Britain is having a similar argument with a different answer. The House of Lords committee that backed a near-total UK ad ban wants affiliates licensed if ministers will not go that far, while Bulgaria’s draft would remove the category.

Online Operators Pay More

The money changes are just as big. The variable fee on an online betting license, a share of stakes minus winnings paid out, now stands at 20%. The draft lifts it to 21% from January 1, 2027 and 22% from January 1, 2028, with a floor of €100,000 a month. The one-off fee for the license rises to €400,000.

There is a sweetener for sport. Operators can keep 1% of that fee in 2027 and 2% from 2028 if they give it to licensed Olympic sports federations and professional football clubs as sponsorship, advertising or donations. Money spent on anything else has to be paid back with interest.

Foreign Licensees Must Book Profits Locally

A foreign company licensed for online betting would have to run it through a registered place of business in Bulgaria, where its revenue and costs are booked and its profit taxed. “Whoever operates on the Bulgarian market and profits from it will report here, pay taxes here and be subject to full control by the Bulgarian state,” Radev said.

For land-based operations, the bill requires all gaming equipment, slot machines, and server infrastructure to connect to the NRA’s Centralized Electronic Monitoring System (CEMS) in real time. This direct data link gives tax authorities instant visibility into transactional volume, auditing compliance, and anti-money laundering (AML) protocols. Additionally, financial institutions charging payment processing fees exceeding 1.5% on gambling transactions will be required to remit the excess processing margin directly to the state budget. Annual social responsibility contributions for online betting licensees rise to €60,000.

The government is not alone in wanting this. On September 9 the opposition Democratic Bulgaria coalition said it would table its own bill to ban gambling advertising everywhere, and its co-chair Bozhidar Bozhanov said the ads “have covered entire cities and are playing on national television.” The Dutch government has proposed a full ban on gambling ads as well. Bulgaria’s bill is still a draft, but if it passes as written, every affiliate license in the country ends on January 1, 2027.