June 11 – La Liga re-starts tonight with the Seville derby between Sevilla and Real Betis. The Spanish will be starting without betting sponsors but with a new campaign promoting the country as a safe destination for tourism and sport.
Under the government’s COVID-19 ‘Social Shield’ decree emergency response, clubs are banned from all forms of gambling advertising until June 21. Valencia, Alavés, Leganés, Granada, Mallorca, Sevilla, Osasuna and Levante, will recommence their La Liga seasons blanking out bookmaker sponsorships.
However, the Spanish government is betting on LaLiga to be able to deliver a global message that Spain is open and safe.
The ‘Safe Sport, Safe Tourism’ campaign, with the #SpainAwaitsYou hashtag, was unveiled today at LaLiga headquarters, by Isabel Oliver, the Secretary of State for Tourism; Irene Lozano, CSD president; Javier Tebas, LaLiga President; Antonio Garamendi, CEOE President; Manuel Muñiz, the Secretary of State for Global Spain; and Faustino Blanco, the General Secretary of the Ministry of Health.
LaLiga will give global visibility to the campaign through a logo that will be on international broadcasts, as well as via content and posts on its social media networks, region-specific virtual perimeter advertising boards, virtualisation of stadiums and digital marketing campaigns.
“Spain is ready to safely welcome international tourists from 1 July. We have thoroughly prepared to ensure we guarantee the highest safety standards across our whole tourism industry by rolling out over 20 uniform protocols for the entire country. We want tourists to feel confident and we are sending out a very clear message that will be amplified by this campaign: Spain is waiting for you,” said Oliver.
But money from betting sponsors is not so welcome. The Consumer Affairs Ministry used the Covid-19 crisis to fast-track new laws of Spain’s ‘Royal Decree on Advertising’ – a federal bill which only permits a ‘four-hour advertising window (1-5 am)’ for licensed gambling companies, hence why shirt sponsors have to be removed.
Clubs, media and bookmakers were critical of the government for sanctioning the judgement, which removed a ‘grace period’ to allow betting firms to fulfil advertising contracts with media partners prior to the start of the 2020/2021 football season in September.
La Liga has said it hopes to allow fans back into stadia at potentially a third of capacity, providing social distancing laws are followed. La Liga said it is working with government representatives to ease further matchday restrictions.
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