British politicians, gambling addicts and clinicians are urging broadcasters to voluntarily suspend sports betting advertisements during the European Championship.
The group, 60 in all, signed an open letter to broadcasters, including ITV, Sky Sports, BT Sport and Talksport. They say “overwhelming evidence” shows that advertising affects people’s decisions to gamble or not gamble.
The letter, signed by five MPs, declared, “Unfortunately, we all know all too well how and where to put a bet on, should we wish—suspending gambling advertising on TV would not affect this in the slightest. What it would do is protect those most at risk of suffering gambling-related harm. Indeed, a recent study found that 54 percent of those classified as ‘problem gamblers’ spent money they hadn’t previously intended on gambling during the lockdown as a result of advertising.”
Football matches have a voluntary ban on sports betting advertisements before 9 p.m. Parliament has debated a gambling sponsorship ban as part of the review of the 2005 Gambling Act.
ITV responded to the letter, saying it “certainly does not seek to minimize the impact of problem gambling and we have given substantial thought to how a government review could achieve the best outcomes for those at risk.” It said the evidence doesn’t show ITV should refuse sports betting ads outside of the existing ban.
However, the network has promised to cut the volume of ads “significantly” this year. In 2018, ITV ran 172 ads during the World Cup.
