Premier League shirt ban cuts betting exposure by just 10.5%

Sleeve & training-wear gambling branding tripled, researchers say, with much of the related content marketing left unlabelled.

The hit

A University of Bristol study found gambling advertising fell by just 10.5% across the Premier League’s opening weekend, despite this season’s voluntary ban on front-of-shirt betting sponsors. Researchers counted 15,571 gambling messages, with exposure shifting to pitchside boards, sleeves & training wear. Dr Raffaello Rossi, the project lead, said: “This cannot be presented as a success for self-regulation.”

Why it matters

The ban was meant to cut fans’ exposure to betting marketing, but the study found exposure simply shifted elsewhere. At least one gambling message was visible for 5 hours 16 minutes during live coverage, almost one-fifth of broadcast time, according to researchers. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Reform, said the voluntary approach to gambling advertising in football “is failing”.

The record

Gambling messages recorded	15,571 across opening weekend (University of Bristol)
Drop in exposure vs previous season	10.5% (University of Bristol)
Pitchside board share of messages	72% of all live-match messages (University of Bristol)
Sleeve & training-wear branding increase	over threefold previous years (University of Bristol)
Paid Facebook & Instagram reach	estimated 153.2m UK accounts across 1,000+ ads (University of Bristol)
Unlabelled gambling content marketing	93% not clearly marked as advertising (University of Bristol)

What happens next

The findings are set to be presented to the UK Parliament on Wednesday.

Sources: Premier League shirt ban cuts gambling exposure by just 10.5%

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