Investigation exposing huge surge of gambling marketing at start of Premier League season prompts urgent call to kick ‘out of control’ industry into touch

New research reveals gambling messages during the opening weekend of this season’s football Premier League in the UK have almost trebled since last year, putting fans including children at risk.

The findings highlight the explosion of gambling marketing and how the industry’s current self-regulation is failing. Leading experts and politicians are now calling on the Government to prioritise public safety and make tackling the issue a top goal.

The report, led by the University of Bristol in the UK, shows football fans are being constantly bombarded with gambling marketing across TV and radio, as well as social media during live match coverage and related news reports. Nearly 30,000 (29,145) gambling messages were counted in total across these channels during a single weekend – almost triple the 10,999 recorded over the same period last year.

Co-lead author Dr Raffaello Rossi, a marketing researcher from the University of Bristol, said: “This new evidence shows how much the industry is out of control – with gambling ads now flooding Premier League coverage. Just a few months ago, a new code of conduct was published by industry to curb marketing during football events, but the policy has had no impact on the volume whatsoever. It’s clear that the industry’s attempt to self-regulate is wholly inadequate and tokenistic. Despite having had years to put in place effective measures to protect consumers, the gambling industry continues to prioritise profit over safety.”

During live broadcasts of six Premier League matches, findings showed gambling messages, including logos and ads shown during live matches, more than trebled from 6,966 at the same time last year to 23,690 this year – a 240% increase.

The worst-hit match studied – West Ham United v Aston Villa – contained 6,491 gambling messages, equating to around 30 per minute. In previous studies, gambling messages peaked at around 3,500 per match.  

Dr Rossi added: “It’s more than a failure of policy – it’s a failure to protect the public and the problem has been allowed to proliferate unchecked. We must stop relying on ineffective self-regulation, which is designed to fail, and use existing legislation to restrict gambling marketing like most of our European counterparts. The Secretary of State has all the legal authority to act on this now.”

During match play more than 10,000 gambling messages were detected, because the industry’s ‘whistle-to-whistle’ ban, designed to keep gambling marketing in check, only applies to TV commercials during ad breaks, rendering the policy ineffective.

Lord Foster of Bath, Chair of Peers for Gambling Reform, said: “These statistics reveal the woeful inadequacies of industry self-regulation. Despite the purported ‘whistle-to-whistle’ ban, we continue to see games saturated with gambling advertising, sponsorship and marketing messages, with figures showing that the number of gambling messages in the opening weekend had more than doubled from the previous season to a staggering 29,145 messages.

“It is simply not good enough. The Government and the Gambling Commission must immediately act to reform gambling advertising, sponsorship and marketing. With political will, these reforms can be implemented now without the need for new legislation.”

Replicating last year’s investigation, a 10-strong team of researchers painstakingly analysed around 24 hours of live match coverage, 15 hours of Sky Sports News coverage, 15 hours of TalkSport radio broadcasts, and gambling advertising posted on Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) from 16 to 19 August.

The report revealed how gambling operators are also successfully exploiting social media to reach vast audiences, including children, with gambling ads on these platforms being viewed over 24 million times. Some of the most popular social media posts featured Premier League players and aren’t obviously identifiable as gambling advertising – a technique known as content marketing – making children especially vulnerable. Three-quarters (74%) of the content marketing posts collected were not clearly identifiable as ads, breaching key advertising regulations. The research team has reported from its study more than 100 offending social media ads by major gambling brands to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for investigation.

“The findings demonstrate the continued negligence of self-regulation of gambling marketing in football, with measures failing to reduce exposure to children and vulnerable audiences. Our research highlights the need for the Government to intervene and move beyond the industry’s voluntary measures, to fully ensure children and young people are protected,” co-lead author Dr Jamie Wheaton added.

Multi-disciplinary experts in marketing, law, psychology, and personal finance at the University of Bristol are at the forefront of tackling gambling harms and influencing regulatory reform.

Last season’s investigation resulted in Dr Rossi presenting evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Gambling Related Harms and House of Lords Peers for Gambling Reform. Both groups have since cited the evidence and appealed for the Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) to accelerate and step up proposed legislation in the white paper, much of which has yet to take effect.

Former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton CBE, who experienced gambling problems himself and together with his wife is a patron of this research initiative, said: “Last year’s results were bad enough, but this year’s are both shocking and disturbing. Gambling advertising during football events has become relentless, and this study clearly shows just how out of control it has become in the UK. What concerns us most is the impact on children, who are being exposed to gambling marketing at an unacceptable level. We are proud to be patrons of this study, which highlights a serious and growing problem that demands urgent action.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, former Vice Chair of the Gambling Harms All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), added: “This appalling evidence shows us that, as I warned previously, the industry could not be trusted to regulate itself. Sadly, the regulators are toothless and as a result we are all being flooded with adverts that the vast majority of us do not want to see.

“Enough is enough. This Government and the Gambling Commission must act swiftly to deliver regulation capable of meaningfully reducing exposure to gambling advertising and help save lives.”

Next month on Thursday 10 October the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, based at the University, will host an international conference, uniting leading international researchers, those who have experienced gambling harms first-hand, government bodies, treatment providers, political commentators and regulators to discuss the current issues in gambling harms research.

Professor Agnes Nairn, Co-Director of the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, said: “University researchers have a vital role to play in producing strong evidence such as this and then holding industry and its regulators to account so all consumers, are properly protected from the wide-reaching risks. The Bristol Hub, supported by leading global experts, is working hard to advance our understanding of the complexity of gambling harms and to push for positive change, as part of the University’s commitment to champion social justice.” 

Notes to editors

Interviews and advance copies of the report are available on request. Please contact Victoria Tagg, Media & PR Manager (Research), University of Bristol: [email protected]