A committee of MPs in the UK is trying to reduce the number of pro-gambling messages that people see in soccer stadiums during games. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

More needs to be done

A group of MPs is pushing to reduce in-stadium gambling ads during soccer games. The UK’s Culture, Media and Sports (CMS) Committee believes this move would help limit the number of times that underage people see the logos of sportsbook operators.

Dame Caroline Dinenage, Chairperson of the parliamentary group, said she wants more to be done to combat the “bombardment of advertising branding at football and other sporting events.”

jersey branding makes up only 7% of all gambling ads seen

The committee doesn’t believe that an upcoming voluntary front-of-shirt gambling ad ban will significantly lower the amount of betting imagery shown during games. It cited a report that estimated that jersey branding makes up only 7% of all gambling ads seen over the course of televised games. A lot of the other exposure comes from LED advertising signs around the perimeter of the fields.

Adding new provisions

The MPs are pushing for the long-awaited publication of a new set of gambling sponsorship rules for all sports. They want new provisions to curtail in-stadium ads and to have a greater number of safe gambling messages. Various stakeholders worked on creating the new code, including the English Premier League and other major sporting organizations in the UK.

Some of the white paper proposals include more stringent affordability checks, stricter limits for online slot bets, and a statutory levy on operators. The CMS Committee has called on the government to provide a definite timeline for the rollout of the white paper’s proposals.

The committee wants lawmakers to take a stronger approach than that outlined in the recent white paper on gambling reform. While it doesn’t want a blanket ban on ads, it believes that further restrictions could be effective without excessively disrupting the freedom of bettors. It noted that horse and greyhound racing should have its own set of rules due to their long-running and close relationships with betting companies.

Not going far enough

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Big Step, a UK-based anti-gambling ads group, believes that the CMS Committee’s recommendations barely even scratch the surface of the issue. A spokesperson for the campaign said that betting advertising in soccer is “out of control, with thousands of ads for addictive products infecting the minds of children every single match.”

the English Premier League has actually taken steps to reduce its gambling affiliation

Despite calls to limit in-stadium branding, the English Premier League has actually taken steps to reduce its gambling affiliation this year. Teams agreed to no longer display logos of operators on the front of their shirts after the end of the 2025-2026 season as part of a voluntary ban. They will still be able to display these images on their sleeves, however.

In another restriction introduced last year, athletes and celebrities can no longer appear in gambling ads that could appeal to underage people. Some operators have already breached this new regulation, resulting in major fines.