The U.K.-based Guardian newspaper announced it will stop accepting gambling advertisements, waving goodbye to millions of pounds in revenue. The new policy, effective June 15, includes all Guardian services in the U.K. and globally. It includes all forms of gambling, except the lottery.
Guardian CEO Anna Bateson, who announced the decision, said the company was concerned about the huge growth of gambling betting apps, and the increased risk of addiction, including people who ruined their lives by losing all their money on gambling machines through mobile devices.
Yogonet reported that Bateson cited studies that show a correlation between exposure to gambling advertising and an increased desire to gamble.
Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor, quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald, commented, “We’ve been thinking about this at a global level for quite a long time.” She added, “We’ve done a lot of reporting on gambling harm in the UK and in Australia, so the timing is a result of the outcome of those quite lengthy conversations.”
Guardian outgoing managing director Dan Stinton added, “I won’t go into the specifics, but wagering advertising has grown really massively for us over the last few years, and that is the reason why we have become more uncomfortable with this, because it has felt like it is not in alignment with our editorial values or our journalism values.”
Stinton continued, “But in making this decision, we are effectively turning off one of our largest advertising categories, and our fastest growing one, and the impact is in the multi-millions.” He didn’t specify exactly how much revenue the paper would be losing as a result of its decision.
He concluded, “We know lots of our readers like having a bet and have no problem with having a bet, but the evidence here coming out in the inquiry, and the evidence in the UK shows that particularly pervasive sports betting ads do contribute to gambling harm.”
In 2020 the paper stopped accepting ads on fossil fuels.
The Guardian and other media outlets have reported negatively on the effects of gambling ads, and public support in the U.K. for the ads has declined. A study published in April found that 52 percent support a ban on gambling ads. In 2022 the government imposed a ban on gambling and sports betting companies using sports and reality stars in ads.
However, the recently released white paper on updating the 2005 Gambling Act did not propose any actions restricting advertisements.
In Australia, where the Guardian also publishes, total gambling advertising has risen over the past 10 years to $287.2 million in 2021 compared to $89.7 million in 2011. Most of that came from two sports betting companies, Sportsbet and Tabcorp, who all spent ad money with TV and print. New digital gambling players that have entered the market recently include Bet365, Ladbrokes, Neds and PointsBet. Australians lose $25 billion annually gambling. Critics point to more extensive gambling ads as a likely cause.
The Australian Gambling Research Centre reports that 80 percent of residents say they have seen betting advertising every week.
