British gambling operators reduce advertising spend as TV viewership wanes
The BGC’s report highlights the contributions to sports and the economy, but the body warns over advertising for unlicensed operators.
UK.- The advertising spend of licensed gambling operators in Britain continues to decline, according to new analysis commissioned by the industry lobby group the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC). The findings of the independent study come as the industry warns that online advertising by unlicensed operators is becoming a risk to consumers.
The research conducted by Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) forms the basis of the BGC’s Gambling Advertising and Sponsorship Report 2025. The data shows that gambling advertising accounted for 2.7 per cent of total UK advertising spend between October 2023 to September 2024, down from 3 per cent the previous year.
Some £1.15bn was spent on gambling advertising by Great Britain-licensed operators. Of this, £341m (29.6 per cent) was spent on broadcast advertising and £768m (66.8 per cent) was spent on digital advertising. A further £138m was spent on sponsorship by betting and gaming operators.
The report found that the gambling advertising spend of licensed operators has been declining steadily since 2021, falling by an average of 1.7 per cent year-on-year. The decline has been driven largely by a £30m reduction in television advertising as viewership as fallen.
However, while advertising from licensed gambling operators continues to decline, separate industry analysis estimates that black market sites are spending between £500m and £700m on advertising.
Focus on player protection
The BGC highlighted that a substantial share of licensed operators’ advertising is now dedicated to player protection. Around 20 per cent of all gambling advertising in 2025 focused on safer gambling messaging, reinforcing awareness of tools and support.
Some 72 per cent of television advertising by BGC members was post-watershed despite an exemption for bingo (at all times) and sports betting (at certain times) to be advertised pre-watershed. The BGC also noted that licensed operators’ advertising compliance remains high. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rulings were issued on under 0.02 per cent of gambling adverts.
Meanwhile, gambling advertising by licensed operators supports 9,900 jobs across the advertising, media and creative supply chain, including 1,400 full-time marketing roles, the BGC says. It contributes around £500m in Gross Value Added (GVA) and plays a role in supporting free-to-air sport, lower-league and grassroots sport, as well as wider media revenues outside subscription-based models.
Grainne Hurst, CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council, said: “This independent analysis shows that gambling advertising by licensed operators is continuing to fall, with spend increasingly concentrated on safer gambling messaging and consumer protections. Our members operate within some of the strictest advertising rules of any industry and continue to raise standards across the sector.
“By contrast, illegal operators are advertising aggressively online with no safeguards, no age checks and no consumer protections, posing a huge risk to consumers. Any serious approach to advertising must be led by evidence and focused on tackling the harmful black market.”
Adam Rivers, Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, added: “We are pleased to have worked with the BGC on this report, which offers an insight into the state of the gambling advertising and sponsorship sector in the UK, based on actual advertising expenditure data from licensed operators.”
The report also highlights the growing scale of gambling advertising for unlicensed operators. which it says are increasingly using unregulated digital channels, including influencers, search engines and AI-generated content. Many explicitly advertise that they are ‘not on GAMSTOP’, the gambling self-exclusion scheme, while others impersonate trusted charities and institutions to deceive the public, the BGC said.
