Young people are bombarded by marketing and ads for gambling, new report claims

Research by Maynooth University and Ulster University said gambling marketing exposure has reached “saturation levels in certain sports, and traditional betting commercials are now only a small part of the strategy.

The all-island report examined several big sports events and found that in last year’s Paddy Power World Darts Championship, which was broadcast on Sky Sports in December and January, there were 1,159 references to gambling over two hours and 45 minutes.

A spokesperson for Paddy Power said it had yet to see the findings of the report.

“For several years we have been at the forefront of driving higher industry standards on social media and continue to do so,” the spokesperson said.

“Separately, our partnership at the World Darts Championship with Prostate Cancer UK saw our marketing used to encourage 136,000 men to check out their risk of developing cancer. We do not and never intend to market to children.”

A spokesperson for Sky Ireland said: “Sky adheres to all relevant advertising codes, including the Broadcast Advertising Code, which includes rules on the scheduling, placement and targeting of gambling ads aiming to limit the appeal and exposure to children and prevent gambling advertising from being exploitative.”

Media companies and sports organisations must remove their reliance on revenues from gambling-related content

The report said men’s darts and horse racing were the most gambling-saturated forms of television broadcasts.

Its authors said some of the marketing on Instagram and television appeals to young people because it involves celebrities using humour to relay the message. On Instagram, companies are producing videos with celebrity partnerships and challenges.

Although not “explicit” gambling marketing, these companies are indirectly glamorising gambling and building brand awareness, the report said. There is a lack of understanding among younger people about how gambling can be detrimental to health and many are unaware of the harms beyond fin­ancial losses.

A gambling reference, in terms of broadcast media, corresponds to every instance that the report’s authors recorded a gambling marketing communication – verbal and/or textual – from a gambling company, broadcaster, commentator or presenter.

These references included a variety of formats such as commercial adverts, verbal references, display of logos in various places and sponsorship lead-ins.

Professor Aphra Kerr, adjunct professor of sociology at Maynooth University, said: “Some sports programmes on television have so much gambling marketing in them that they should be labelled as sponsored programmes.

“If we are serious about introducing a public-health approach to gambling, and we want to protect the integrity of sport, then media companies and sports organisations must remove their reliance on revenues from gambling marketing and gambling-related content.”

The researchers said that current gambling regulations and approaches in both the Republic and in Northern Ireland are “ineffective in limiting the exposure of young people to gambling marketing, and its frequency, when sports and media organisations are willing to carry them”.

The report said both governments need to legislate to curtail the volume, frequency and timing of gambling marketing.

Anne Marie Caulfield, CEO designate of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, said: “Maynooth and Ulster Universities’ research on the relationship between gambling advertising and sport adds weight to the growing evidence that young people in particular are adversely affected by gambling marketing.

“Young people are overexposed to gambling and betting without being adequately informed about the associated harms, and as a society we have a responsibility to protect our young people from these dangers.

“The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, once established and operational, will regulate the gambling industry in Ireland and will implement safeguards to protect young people in particular from gambling harm. In terms of advertising, draft legislation currently before the Houses of the Oireachtas provides for a statutory watershed prohibiting gambling advertising between the hours of 5.30 and 21.00 on television, radio, and on-demand audio visual media.

“The research presented today provides further evidence of the need to protect and support the most vulnerable in our society, especially young people, from gambling harm.”