Premier League gambling ads expose cracks in self-regulation

The Premier League season kicked off beneath a storm of betting logos — more than 27,000 of them, nearly triple the 2023 figure but only slightly down from last year’s record high. Promises of self-control? Lost somewhere in the crowd. The sheer visibility of Premier League gambling ads shows how the sport remains the industry’s most lucrative showcase.

Researchers at the University of Bristol manually counted every gambling message over four days of live football, radio, and social media coverage to capture the true scale of what fans actually saw. In total, the team analysed almost 29 hours of live Premier League broadcasts over the opening weekend.

“There’s a real lack of long-term research on gambling marketing,” said Dr Raffaello Rossi, Senior Lecturer at the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, in exclusive comments to SiGMA News. He co-authored the study analysing exposure during the Premier League’s 2025/26 opening weekend.

“After last year’s spike, we expected the numbers to drop, but they didn’t. What surprised us most was the sharp rise in ads during the 90 minutes, especially on hoardings and stadium structures, a clear sign the industry is adapting ahead of next year’s front-of-shirt ban.”

The study highlights a clear mismatch between corporate pledges and the real experience of fans watching at home. Even with the whistle-to-whistle ban and self-imposed advertising codes in place, the data revealed over 13,000 gambling messages shown when they should have been off-limits. Around one in ten ads came from unlicensed operators, proof that the rules guarding the game still have holes big enough to see daylight through.

Gambling messages dominate live coverage

Across four days of Premier League coverage, 15-18 August, gambling brands appeared at an average of 12.6 messages per minute. The heaviest concentration came during Wolverhampton v Manchester City, with researchers logging 5,262 gambling messages in a single match. Overall, about one-third of each broadcast contained visible gambling logos or promotions. In a single three-hour block on Sky Sports News, researchers logged 2,738 gambling messages.

“The Premier League is now so saturated with gambling marketing that brands are fighting each other for every inch of advertising space,” Rossi said. “The evidence is overwhelming: self-regulation has failed. Voluntary codes are protecting profits, not fans.”

Premier League gambling ads now exceed every other commercial category in live coverage. Every inch of the pitch has become ad space. Sponsorship hoardings, shirt logos and in-play graphics form an endless reel of gambling messages, crowding out almost everything else on screen.

Unlicensed operators add pressure

Researchers counted 2,412 gambling messages from thirteen unlicensed operators, representing a direct breach of the industry’s Sponsorship Code of Conduct (introduced in 2024). Of all televised gambling ads, 8.8 percent promoted brands lacking a UK licence, and on Sky Sports News, the figure rose to 12.1 percent.

“This changes the debate entirely,” said Dr Rossi.

“The Sponsorship Code was co-designed by the Betting and Gaming Council itself, so the fact that thousands of ads came from unlicensed brands shows just how ineffective the industry is at even policing its own rules.

“If the code won’t stop unlicensed operators from advertising, it’s hard to see how anyone can still argue that self-regulation works. I’m sure even the industry would agree that in this case, government intervention is clearly the best solution.”

For licensed operators working under tight UK controls, the flood of unlicensed ads represents a double blow: reputational risk and unfair competition. Compliant operators invest in safer gambling campaigns and monitoring systems, while offshore rivals avoid these costs altogether, eroding confidence in the very system meant to protect players.

Whistle-to-whistle ban proves ineffective

The whistle-to-whistle policy restricts gambling advertising on television from five minutes before kick-off until five minutes after the final whistle, and only before 9 pm. Yet, researchers found that 13,262 gambling messages, from hoardings, shirts, and stadium branding, remained visible during those supposedly protected periods, a thirty-two percent increase on last year. The findings underline how narrow the policy’s reach has become and why marketing volume continues to rise.

“The core problem is that self-regulation is designed to protect profits, not fans,” Rossi explained.

“The Sponsorship Code of Conduct introduced last summer is vague and offers no clear guidance on what constitutes an appropriate amount of marketing or responsible gambling messaging.

“Similarly, the much-touted whistle-to-whistle ban only covers TV commercials, while ignoring the huge volume of marketing on hoardings, shirts, and other in-stadium spaces.

“As a result, we still see over 13,200 gambling messages across matches, with more than 5,200 in a single game. That shows just how ineffective these voluntary measures really are by design.”

Self-regulation aimed to allow flexibility and avoid government overreach. Instead, it resulted in inconsistency. Partial restrictions create loopholes that marketers exploit. Premier League gambling ads persisted during restricted broadcast periods, suggesting that voluntary self-regulation may struggle to keep pace with today’s multi-platform media.

Social media regulation is playing catch-up

Researchers also tracked 489 Premier League gambling ads across Facebook, Instagram, and X. Eight of the top ten brands operated internationally registered accounts, which, at the time, fell outside the oversight of the Advertising Standards Authority. As a result, 371 out of 489 ads (roughly 38 percent) were not subject to UK regulation. The researchers also found that 42 percent of organic gambling posts were not clearly identifiable as advertising, breaching the CAP Code. Across content marketing specifically, 70 percent of posts failed basic identifiability tests — a pattern the authors say risks appealing to younger audiences.

“First of all, it’s quite shocking how long it took the ASA to close this loophole,” Rossi noted.

“We, together with the APPG on Gambling Reform and Peers for Gambling Reform, have been highlighting this problem since 2021, so it’s deeply concerning that it took four years to act.

And even now, I doubt the change will make a significant difference. The issue isn’t just about the ASA’s remit. Until regulators address those deeper issues, closing a single loophole won’t meaningfully reduce exposure.”

The ASA has since expanded its remit to cover foreign-based social media accounts as of September 2025. However, because the change came after the Premier League season began, tens of thousands of gambling ads escaped scrutiny during the opening weeks, generating more than 34 million views — up from 24 million the previous year.

Those figures show how social media has become the dominant channel for gambling marketing, reaching far beyond traditional broadcast and exposing the limits of platform-level oversight.

Industry and political response

The reaction has been swift across Westminster. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Chair of the Gambling Reform APPG, described the findings as “astonishing” and said the whistle-to-whistle ban was “far too limited and ineffective.” Lord Foster of Bath, Chair of Peers for Gambling Reform, called the ASA “a toothless organisation.”

In the university’s accompanying statement, former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton CBE described the findings as “simply indefensible,” warning that the scale of gambling advertising in football “has reached saturation point” and that children “are once again being exposed to thousands of gambling ads during games.”

The industry hit back, insisting it has learned a few lessons since 2019, including implementing age checks, developing smarter ad tools, and amplifying messages about safer play. With 27,440 gambling messages recorded in just one weekend, critics argue that the distinction between responsible and reckless marketing has become impossible to see.

Operators face a more complex equation than ever: grow the business while maintaining the public trust that underpins their social licence to operate. With saturation now undeniable, that balance is harder to strike.

Front-of-shirt ban and what comes next

The Premier League’s forthcoming ban on front-of-shirt advertising, set for the 2026/27 season, will remove visible betting brands from club kits, but its impact may be largely symbolic. The Bristol team found that shirt logos account for less than ten percent of total gambling exposure.

Most exposure now comes from pitch-side hoardings, broadcast graphics, and social media content.

The policy may satisfy optics, but it leaves the core problem untouched: the volume of gambling marketing surrounding football shows no sign of falling.

Volume, not just content

Rossi believes that technology alone cannot fix the problem.

“The ASA has long promised that AI monitoring would help, but I haven’t seen any convincing evidence of that so far.” He added:

“The deeper issue is that our regulatory system was built for an era of television and radio, when there were relatively few adverts to monitor. Today, with social media offering virtually free advertising space, we’re dealing with millions of gambling ads every year, far beyond what current systems were designed to handle.

“That’s why I think we need to start seriously considering the regulation of volume, not just content. Without limits on how much gambling marketing people are exposed to, no amount of AI will solve the problem.”

As SiGMA News recently explored, AI in sports betting reshapes the fan journey through tech-driven personalisation and targeting.

The authors urge lawmakers to replace fragmented self-regulation with a single legislative framework. Their proposed measures include:

• A full whistle-to-whistle ban covering all formats, not just television spots
• Mandatory harm-reduction messages with clear standards for size and placement
• A ban on content marketing that blurs the line between advertising and news
• A complete ban on sponsorship by unlicensed brands

“The government should follow the lead of countries like Spain and Italy and introduce clear legislation that prohibits all forms of gambling advertising, including logos, hoardings, and sponsorship during games,” Rossi explains.

“It’s absurd that we still accept children being bombarded with thousands of gambling messages while watching football. The industry has had years to get its house in order and prove that self-regulation can work — but it hasn’t. That’s why it’s now time for the government to step in and introduce proper, comprehensive legislation that truly protects fans.”

Industry leaders also advocate for greater use of data analytics and compliance technology. Real-time ad verification, automated licence checks, and cross-platform reporting could reduce the need for heavy-handed government intervention.

The game’s changed, and now the rules must too

This study reveals what most fans already suspect: football is no longer just a game, but an advertising arena where gambling brands compete for every second of screen time.

For regulators, the study increases pressure to turn voluntary pledges into enforceable rules. For operators, it reinforces that compliance is a brand asset, not a box to tick. And for fans, the question is whether action will come before public trust runs dry.

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