• No gambling
adverts will be shown during live sport televised before 9pm
watershed
A ban on gambling adverts
during televised sport has come into effect, with the Ashes cricket series
between England and Australia becoming the first major UK sporting event in
more than a decade subject to the restrictions.
The gambling industry
announced the voluntary measure last year, in an apparent effort to address
mounting concern about the volume of gambling adverts on television and their
impact on children and vulnerable people.
Under the agreement, no
gambling ads will be shown during live sport televised before the 9pm watershed
for a “whistle to whistle” period beginning five minutes before the
start of a match and ending five minutes after.
The curbs exclude horse
and greyhound racing, which are seen as intrinsically linked to gambling.
The ban was introduced to coincide with the start of the football
season next week but the Ashes, which began on Thursday, is the first major
sporting event to be subject to the new regime.
The change will
dramatically reduce the number of gambling adverts seen on television, 12 years
after the Gambling Act 2005 came into force, permitting online casinos and
bookmakers to advertise on television for the first time.
Previously
only the National Lottery and bingo companies had been allowed to screen TV
adverts.
Speaking when the ban was announced, former culture minister
Jeremy Wright said: “It is vital children and vulnerable people are
protected from the threat of gambling-related harm. Companies must be socially
responsible.”
Campaigners pointed out that voluntary curbs on TV
advertising do not include football shirt sponsorship or the adverts that run
around pitchside hoardings in stadiums, which means gambling firms will still
appear prominently during live sport.
James Grimes of charity Gambling
With Lives’ Big Step project, which asks football clubs to review their
relationship with gambling sponsors said: “Clubs and gambling sponsors
should be addressing much more including pitchside advertising, shirt
sponsorship and in ground ‘gambling harms’ messaging.
“We know that football fans are within the highest risk group of
developing major gambling problems - clubs need to help them. You don’t
need to have a bet to enjoy a match.”
Academic studies have
indicated that the prevalence of gambling company logos on shirts and hoardings
mean that their branding still features heavily even on non-commercial
broadcasters such as the BBC.
Half of the Premier League’s shirts
will be emblazoned with gambling companies’ logos during the 2019-20
season.
The effect of the TV ad ban will also be limited by the fact
that the majority of the gambling industry’s spend has shifted online in
recent years. |
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