Formula 1 racing team Sauber does not engage in unauthorized advertising
Published: Tuesday, Jun 4th 2024, 14:50
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The Sauber Formula 1 racing team is not engaging in unauthorized advertising for online gambling that is not licensed in Switzerland. This is the conclusion reached by the Federal Gaming Board, which has discontinued the relevant proceedings.
The case concerned the logo of the online gaming provider "Stake", as announced by the Swiss Federal Gaming Board (SFGB) on Tuesday. Sauber displays the sponsor's logo on its racing cars, racing suits, website, social networks and live broadcasts on Swiss television SRF.
This gave rise to the suspicion that Sauber was advertising for the provider of online casino games, which is not licensed in Switzerland. The SFGB therefore initiated an administrative criminal investigation in 2023. It investigated whether there had been a violation of the Federal Gambling Act.
It came to the conclusion that the sponsorship agreement with "Stake" and Sauber's appearance with the logo should in principle be assessed as advertising. When examining the illegality, the SFGB took into account that Sauber mainly appears internationally and that no appearances with the "Stake" logo take place in Switzerland.
Sauber also did not advertise explicitly in Switzerland. In addition, the "Stake" service is not accessible in Switzerland, according to the Commission. The platform took measures to prevent players from Switzerland from registering on it.
For these reasons, the SFGB is discontinuing the proceedings. However, it stated: "This decision is not a precedent". It will continue to investigate every suspected case of advertising for unauthorized casino games.
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