Sport: Gambling Advertising

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Wednesday 13th March 2024 Westminster Hall

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered gambling advertising in sport.

A couple of weeks ago in this Chamber, we debated affordability checks in gambling, and the Government Benches were rammed with those who seemed to have racecourses in their constituencies. They did not understand that affordability checks did not apply on course. I am not sure where they are today—did someone say Cheltenham?

I do not claim to be an expert on how advertising and marketing work. Like most people, I am exposed to adverts on TV, billboards and the internet. I wonder, does associating a puppy dog with a certain brand of toilet paper make me more likely to buy that brand? Do pictures of a car racing through stunning mountain scenery or unusually empty city centre streets increase the chances of me buying that particular car? Do adverts offering me free bets or extra spins make it more likely that I will gamble?

I—like most people, I presume—believe that I am impervious to such obvious and sometimes clumsy attempts at selling, and then I take a step back and see that I am also guilty of this. That is particularly obvious during an election year. I am trying to get re-elected, and I promote myself and the brand I represent through advertising. I consider how best to get that combination over to my constituents and, like most politicians, I use the tried and tested methods of leaflets, door knocking, newsletters, hustings, radio, TV and social media. I tell people, “Vote Cowan. Vote SNP.”

My experience tells me that this has worked three times before, and that I have therefore done something right. The gambling industry is simply doing the same thing, but its income is vast. It spends huge sums of money—£1.5 billion a year—to achieve a far greater reach than any parliamentarian can, and we are all exposed to it. If I see a letterbox that says “no leaflets”, I do not post one. Unfortunately, the gambling industry is less selective, and by placing adverts in and around sporting arenas and putting them on the players and around the pitch, it removes the opportunity for fans to decline the offer of being advertised to.

Despite the Advertising Standards Authority and the Committee of Advertising Practice, the gambling industry continues to stretch the rules, with 3,500 gambling logos visible during a single English premier league game, in plain sight for anyone to see. Only 7% of those were on the front of shirts, so the impending change to adverts on the front of shirts means nothing, and the gambling industry knows it. It was proposed that family areas free of gambling adverts could be established in football grounds, but one year on, nothing has changed. When it comes to advertising to children, bet365, Ladbrokes, MrQ, and Lights Camera Bingo all broke the rules.

In short, if the gambling industry—any industry—did not think that spending huge amounts of money was not generating more in returns, it simply would not do it. Self-regulation is not sufficient for any industry ever-hungry for more. Advertising increases the gambling industry revenue. Advertising normalises gambling. According to the ASA, that was a predicted consequence of the Gambling Act 2005. Advertising increases the reach and therefore the number of people who are gambling.

The hypocrisy is that while gambling benefits from the sports, most sports do not actually benefit from gambling. The gambling industry is a parasite living off the lifeblood of the sports that it uses. It makes gambling the most important factor and the sport a poor second. The game is not the same without a bet—that is the message.

That is a great shame. I remember great moments in sport with joy: Daley Thompson’s decathlon golds in 1980 and 1984; Ian Botham’s 149 against Australia at Headingley; Ovett, Coe and Cram racing against the clock and one another; Torvill and Dean at Sarajevo in 1984; and Andy Murray winning Wimbledon twice. There was not an advert in sight. And George Best just being George Best—I did not need a bet on these things to enjoy them. The sport must be the priority and gambling advertising must be curtailed. I would say that, just like tobacco, it should be completely removed from the world of sport.

Of course, this issue goes beyond that. The UK Government have said that there was “good evidence” that advertising had a “disproportionate impact” on people who already had problems with their gambling. In addition, some forms of online advertising had a strong appeal to those under 18. According to an Ipsos MORI report, more than four out of five of those aged 11 to 24 reported seeing gambling advertising on TV, and that includes the national lottery. Two thirds reported seeing gambling promotions on their social media channels.

In September 2023, a Bristol University report told us that 92% of content marketing ads sent by major gambling brands were not clearly identifiable as advertising, which breaches a key advertising regulation, and that less than a quarter of them featured age warnings. There was at least one gambling advert during any commercial break on talkSPORT radio and there were 600 gambling messages during two hours of Sky Sports News. In addition, 1,902 gambling ads on social media generated a total of 34 million impressions.

One of the lead researchers, Raffaello Rossi, said that the report showed that

“gambling marketing during Premier League weekends is inescapable”,

and that fans were

“bombarded with gambling marketing through various channels, making it a normal part of football consumption.”

He claimed that self-regulation of the gambling industry was “completely failing”.

Meanwhile, the Gambling Commission will review incentives, continue to monitor practices and work to strengthen consent for direct marketing. But in the here and now, 80,000 UK children are addicted to gambling or at risk, up to 1.4 million adults in the UK are harmed directly and 20% of the population is harmed directly or indirectly. There are between 117 and 496 gambling suicides in England every year.

The time to review and monitor has passed. We need to understand the nature of addiction and see it as a health issue. We need to slow down gambling, build in cooling-off periods and give people space and time to consider their actions and the outcomes. Advertising does the opposite of those things; it pushes, cajoles and encourages.

Finally, we need to respect the fact that some people might be triggered by adverts. We need to protect our children. Nobody is asking anyone to make some sacrifice for this; we are not asking the Government to dip into their pocket. We can ban gambling advertising and we should do that now.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stuart Andrew]

We have had this discussion before. One of the reasons that our White Paper has landed as well as it could do in a challenging policy area is that it has been developed through use of the very best evidence. I will come on to that point later, because I think there is further work to be done in this field.

The industry’s whistle-to-whistle ban has cut the number of pre-9 pm betting adverts to around a quarter of their previous level, as the hon. Member for Barnsley East (Stephanie Peacock) mentioned, and further cut the average number of sports betting adverts seen by children to just 0.3 per week. None the less, we also know that gambling sponsorship is one of the main ways children are exposed to gambling, and that gambling marketing can have a disproportionate impact on those already experiencing gambling harm. That is why the advertising rules have been strengthened since October 2022. Content that has a strong appeal for children, such as that involving top-flight footballers, and that creates a sense of urgency to gamble is banned from appearing in gambling adverts. This measure further protects children and vulnerable adults.

Following on from the gambling White Paper, we are in the process of implementing a comprehensive suite of protections, ranging from action on advertising, products and the way that gambling is provided to prevent gambling-related harms. In line with existing gambling advertising rules, as has already been mentioned, the Premier League’s decision to ban front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling firms will commence by the end of the 2025-26 season.

I can also confirm that a cross-sport code of conduct for gambling sponsorship has been agreed by a number of the country’s major sports governing bodies, from the Premier League and the English Football League to the British Horseracing Authority, the England and Wales Cricket Board and others. Indeed, the Rugby Football League sought to build in the code’s provisions as part of its renewed agreement with Betfred. This landmark code fulfils a key commitment from the White Paper ahead of schedule, and will bind all domestic sports governing bodies to four core principles. First, all sports will ensure socially responsible promotion. Education and awareness will form a key part of all sports’ marketing activities, including in stadiums.

[Ronnie Cowan]

The Minister has just acknowledged the need to build education support. Will he acknowledge the fact of the potential damage that has been done by this product in the first place? The gambling industry cannot have it both ways; these companies are causing the damage and at the same time painting themselves as the good guys because they are helping to support people out of addiction. They cannot own both organisations.

[Stuart Andrew]

As I said, I will come on to further research that I feel we need to do, but I want also to emphasise that we are trying to do a considerable amount of work here as part of the wider White Paper reforms. In essence, we are trying to deal with 15 years of digital progress, which is quite significant.

At this point, I want to pay tribute to all the team over at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. They are working extremely hard to meet the commitment we made to get the majority of the code done by the summer of this year, recognising that its implementation will have the greatest impact on tackling gambling harm.

The second core principle is the protection of children and vulnerable people. Sponsorship has to be designed to limit reach to children and those at risk of gambling harm, and this will see adult replica kits, as was mentioned, available without the front-of-shirt gambling logo.

The third principle is one of reinvestment into sport. The commercial income raised from gambling sponsorship will provide grassroots services that genuinely serve fans and communities.

Finally, the code will ensure that gambling sponsorship maintains sport integrity. Sponsorship arrangements will build in appropriate requirements that they do not compromise the integrity of sporting competitions nor harm the welfare of participants. Together, those principles will establish a robust minimum standard for gambling sports sponsorship across all sports.

Of course, commercial arrangements and fan-bases differ across the industry, and that is why individual sports governing bodies will also introduce bespoke arrangements to fulfil these principles in a way that is tailored to maximise their impact. Some sports, including football, intend to have their arrangements in place as early as this year ahead of the next season. Ultimately, this will guarantee that, where gambling sponsorship does appear, it is done in a responsible way and that fans, especially children, are better protected.

There is no single intervention that effectively prevents gambling-related harm, and that is why we have taken an evidence-led approach to implement a package of reforms targeted at different levels, including advertising. We absolutely recognise that advertising can have a disproportionate impact on those experiencing gambling harms. Technological advances and developments and the increasing dominance of online gambling have necessitated a doubling of efforts from us as a Government. We and the Gambling Commission are now taking targeted action to ban harmful practices and to ensure that advertising remains socially responsible wherever it appears.

The commission has recently consulted on strengthened protections to ensure that free bets and bonuses are constructed in a way that does not encourage excessive or harmful gambling, and that is in conjunction with new rules to give consumers more control over the direct gambling marketing they wish to receive. Together, the measures will empower customers and prohibit harmful marketing practices to further prevent the risk of gambling harms. The commission will set out its response to the consultation in due course.

Our holistic approach also includes action on the products themselves. We recently announced the introduction of stake limits in online slot games, as was mentioned, where we have seen evidence of elevated levels of harmful gambling. But we are also pursuing broader protections, such as financial risk checks and further strengthening restrictions on game design. I am clear that effective and innovative collaboration to get the right mix of interventions for the population as a whole and those with specific needs is required to tackle this issue.

Evidence has been a key theme in this debate, and I want to end in recognising that further work is needed in this area. A concerted effort to build the evidence base to ensure policy and regulation are able to deal with the emerging issues is paramount, and the Gambling Commission’s important work on the gambling survey for Great Britain aligns with this priority. The survey will in time provide us with a better picture of gambling behaviour and the nature of gambling-related harm.

However, developing quality evidence is also a key priority for the Government’s statutory levy. Increased and ring-fenced funding will be directed towards high-quality, independent research into gambling and gambling-related harms, including on advertising. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made clear at the launch of the White Paper, if new evidence suggests that we need to go further, we will look at this again.

I again thank the hon. Member for Inverclyde for securing this important debate and all the Members who made valuable contributions. I am committed to tackling gambling-related harms and I am confident that the action we are taking will have a real impact in reducing those harms across the country. The new levy will provide us with even more evidence. As I have already committed, if further action is needed we will look at it again.

[Ronnie Cowan]

I thank everybody who has taken the time and effort to be here today and spoken so well, and I thank the Minister for being here. I understand the hard work that staff are putting into resolving the gambling issues that we have. We all have constituents that are damaged and families that have been torn apart. I am sure that in some cases individuals have committed suicide because of their gambling addiction. It is not always obvious because gambling addiction tends to be a hidden addiction.

I did the Big Step and Gambling with Lives walk—I have done it a number of times. The last time one of the guys came up to me during the walk and said, “If I was an alcoholic and my local landlord came to my door at night and said, ‘Have a case of beer, have a bottle of whisky, have a bottle of gin’, people would think that behaviour reprehensible. I am a recovering gambling addict and people still send me adverts saying, “Do you want a free bet? Do you want five bets on this?” It is exactly the same thing.

I thank all the organisations and individuals that have helped me gain a better understanding of the situation, none more so than Martin Paterson. As a recovering gambling addict, he sent me a message today. He said,

“Can I add, as a person in recovery like millions of others over the years the ads are triggering so many back into the hole of gambling addiction.”

Martin, stay strong. We will keep up the fight.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered gambling advertising in sport.