New Agreement on Gambling Ads in the UK

The gambling industry is expected to do something about the amount of gambling advertising. Ronnie Cowan, a member of the Scottish National Party is trying to raise attention on responsible gambling. According to Cowan, allowing for too many gambling ads would risk normalizing gambling to generations of people.

The whistle-to-whistle ban borrowed from Australia

If the Labour Party wins the next general election, gambling companies could be banned from advertising during live games. The Party confirmed, they have a straightforward proposal regarding gambling restriction:

• a £100 million a-year levy on gambling firms to fund addiction treatment
• a ban on credit cards used to place bets
• clinical guidelines on treatment for problem gamblers.

Lord Chadlington, an active member of the House of Lords is urging some serious modifications. As he argues, during the 2018 World Cup, viewers were overwhelmed by 90 minutes of advertising.

Since 2012, gambling advertising has increased by 63%. Chadlington is urging for the adoption of the Australian model. That means, banning gambling ads not only during live sporting events but also one hour before and one hour after the games. Possibly, these ads are encouraging spur-of-the-moment betting.

A highly remarkable gambling industry in the UK

Without question, the gambling industry is a significant one in Great Britain and provides a high number of jobs. This is apparent from the numbers published by the UK Gambling Commission:

• there are 152 casinos all over the UK
• the total number of gaming machines is 181,309
• the number of bingo premises reaches 644
• there are 8,406 betting shops
• around 33% of the population is reported to gamble weekly
• the number of employees in the gambling industry is 107,940.

Even after modifications to the rules of gambling advertisements, the sector’s commercials will live on. Most likely, gambling ads in the UK would move mainly to digital platforms.