In breaking news, according to Reuters, “A Portuguese court ruled against bwin.party digital, the world’s biggest listed online gaming company, saying it must remove all advertising and sponsorship from national sports competitions after labeling its activities illegal.” A bwin representative told Reuters on Tuesday, “One cannot aggressively advertise and expand games on the one hand and keep foreign competition out on the other hand.” The company has already said it would stop advertising as of this week.

The ruling could have far-reaching effects. For example, several seven-figure sporting sponsorships could be up in the air following the court’s decision, among them bwin‘s €4 million backing of a Portuguese soccer club. Reuters pointed out that as of Monday, the Portuguese soccer club was forced to sever its bwin ties.

eGamingReview added that the poker rooms have had a noticeable presence in Portugal for several years: “bwin was previously the main sponsor of the Portuguese football first division, which was known as Liga betandwin.com in the 2005-2006 season and Liga bwin until 2008, when the beer brand Sagres took over the sponsorship.”

This might not be the last we’ll hear about an internet gaming site receiving the boot in Portugal, either. Betfairand Betclicalso exist in the Portuguese market, leaving some in the industry to believe that they could be future targets. bwin.party has come under fire because, according to Reuters, it’s alleged that “bwin has an unfair advantage because it is not taxed or subject to Portuguese gambling legislation.”

Artur Mateus, a manager of the Portuguese Casino Association, hailed the court ruling in the same Reuters article: “We are happy with this decision, it was a positive one. We pay for extremely expensive licenses, so we want the State to combat illegal operators who have unfair advantages.” This week’s ruling stems from a 2005 Portuguese Casino Association and the Portuguese lottery lawsuit.

A representative from bwin.party told PocketFives, “The Portuguese monopoly for online games is not in line with the recent judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Portuguese monopoly cannot aggressively advertise on the one hand and block out foreign competition on the other. The other aspects of Bwin’s business in Portugal will continue as normal.”

2012 hasn’t been a completely negative year for bwin.party, however. Last week, the company teamed up with the government-backed Danske Licens Spil to launch an online poker room and online casino in Denmark.

The presence of bwin.party in Denmark with such a strong partner led the company’s CEOs, Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, to remark in a press release, “Building on our recent announcement regarding deals with both MGM and Boyd in the U.S. market, this is another important milestone in the execution of our stated strategy that is focused on securing leadership positions in regulated and to-be-regulated markets. We are delighted that DLS has recognized our expertise and high standards of business practice and we look forward to building a market-leading customer offer for the Danish consumer.”

According to PokerScout, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, PartyPoker is the second largest online poker site in the world in terms of cash game traffic and holds down a seven-day running average of 4,400 real money ring game players. During peak hours, well over 8,000 cash game players can be seated. bwin is the flagship site of the Ongame Network, which is the fifth largest worldwide. Ongame has a seven-day running average of 2,300 cash game players and a 24-hour peak of 5,200.

In November, bwin.party announced a strategic partnership in the United Stateswith MGM Resorts International, Boyd Gaming, and the World Poker Tour, the latter of which it already owns. The deal won’t come to fruition until there’s licensed and regulated internet gaming in the United States, a status quo that seemed to be a long shot until the U.S. Department of Justice issued an opinion letter two days before Christmas saying that the Wire Act only applies to sports betting.

In the same letter, however, the status of online poker was not directly addressed.

PartyPoker and bwin remain separate poker rooms, but are in the process of being integrated. The affiliate backends are on the verge of becoming one, while rumors abound about the future of the Ongame Network, including the possibility that it could be sold off.

Keep it dialed to PocketFives for daily poker news.