Children more vulnerable to gambling ad bombardment

Children are more heavily influenced by gambling adverts than adults, new research has shown.

Researchers from the universities of Sheffield and Glasgow found that young people and those already at risk of gambling related harm were more likely to take up gambling and develop an addiction following exposure to advertising.

Last year, the Government said it planned to ban betting firms and online casinos from sponsoring top football teams as part of a long-overdue review.

Over-exposure

Elizabeth Goyder, Professor of Public Health at the University of Sheffield, said the researchers found “substantial evidence” to support restrictions “to reduce exposure to gambling advertising”.

Prof Goyder said it is “particularly likely to reduce risk of harm to children and young people and adults who are already vulnerable to gambling-related harms”.

She added that this would also benefit problem gamblers given “those already at risk of harm from their gambling have consistently been shown to be more likely to be prompted to gambling by exposure to advertising”.

The Government’s long-delayed White Paper reforming the Gambling Act 2005 is due to be published early this year.

Surrounded

In an op-ed for the Guardian, professional footballer David Wheeler said it is “impossible to watch a match in the top five men’s divisions in England without seeing adverts for gambling”.

The League One player said that in nearly all of his 500 appearances he had an online casino advert either on his shirt or surrounding him on the pitch.

He believes players have a “responsibility to speak up when something is so obviously harming our supporters, the communities we represent and even our colleagues”.

In 2021, a Channel 4 documentary revealed that gambling logos can appear over 700 times during a single televised football match.

Too high stakes

Wheeler said he is encouraged to see that some clubs are taking action, like the thirty clubs backing The Big Step, a campaign to end gambling sponsorship in football.

The campaign is part of Gambling with Lives, a charity set up by families who have lost loved ones to gambling-related suicide.

The Wycombe Wanderers player said that by “promoting online casinos, football is risking the lives of its young fans. The stakes are just too high.”