The Premier League and Government face a public backlash for not going far enough in banning gambling ads in football, new polling has suggested.
Almost two thirds of those surveyed believe there are “too many” such adverts shown during televised games, and nine in 10 want ministers to regulate them.
While the Government’s gambling white paper, published at the end of April, proposed increased regulatory powers, it stopped short of completely banning gambling ads in the country’s most popular sport.
“Our polling shows that the Government’s permissive stance on gambling advertising isn’t shared by the public,” Tim Cairns, a policy expert at charity Care, told i.
“People are deeply concerned about an oversaturation of gambling ads in football. And they want proper oversight of advertising by regulation.”
The Premier League announced in April that gambling adverts on the front of shirts would be outlawed from the start of the 2026-27 season.
However, the sponsorship will still be permitted on shirt sleeves and stadium hoardings, in a move that charities described as “totally incoherent”.
Cairns said: “The Premier League has made a voluntarily decision to take gambling adverts off the front of shirts, in three years’ time. But football’s self-imposed ban doesn’t include sponsorship on sleeves, on the back of shirts, on pitchside boarding, or advertising during televised football. It’s not enough.
“Since the last major reform of gambling laws, big betting has focused relentlessly on football. The beautiful game has become an ugly spectacle for those worried about problem gambling. It’s baffling that amid so much vocal concern ministers have failed to outline robust action.
“Given the harms we’re seeing in terms of gambling addiction, we need to see proper regulation of ads in sport from the outside. Ideally, the Government should go further. Just as smoking ads and sponsorship was banned in sport in the 80s, so gambling adverts should be banned today.”
The poll was conducted among more than 1,000 UK adults by Savanta on behalf of Care. Eight in 10 respondents backed the idea of a levy on gambling profits and 90 per cent called for checks on financially vulnerable people.
Currently, eight Premier League clubs have gambling sponsors on the front of their shirts, including three – Bournemouth, Everton and Fulham – who agreed new deals with those partners before the start of 2022-23.
The other five are Brentford, Leeds, Newcastle, Southampton and West Ham, while others including Wolves have gambling-related sleeve sponsors.
When making the announcement about the shirt sponsorship changes, the Premier League said: “Premier League clubs have collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of clubs’ matchday shirts, becoming the first sports league in the UK to take such a measure voluntarily in order to reduce gambling advertising.
“The announcement follows an extensive consultation involving the League, its clubs and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of the Government’s ongoing review of current gambling legislation.
“The Premier League is also working with other sports on the development of a new code for responsible gambling sponsorship. To assist clubs with their transition away from shirt-front gambling sponsorship, the collective agreement will begin at the end of the 2025-26 season.”