Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of children exposed to gambling advertising through professional sports.

The government does not hold data on the number of children exposed to gambling advertising through professional sports. However, the Gambling Commission’s annual survey of children and young people includes figures on the proportion of children who have seen gambling adverts in a number of settings. In 2019, that survey found that 50% of 11-16 year olds had seen or heard a gambling advertisement linked to a sports event. In 2020, the survey found that 41% of 11-16 year olds had seen or heard gambling adverts linked to a sports event but the outbreak of Covid-19 halted fieldwork for the 2020 survey before it was finished. The 2020 survey is therefore not directly comparable to previous years.

All gambling advertising, wherever it appears, is subject to strict controls on content and placement and must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people. In 2019, the Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising was amended to include a whistle-to-whistle ban on betting adverts being shown during live sport before the 9pm watershed.

We launched the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of the wide scope of that Review, we have called for evidence on the benefits or harms of allowing gambling operators to advertise.