UK: two-thirds of football fans want less gambling advertising

One-third were put off buying kits because of gambling sponsors a new survey has found.

UK.- A new survey has found that two-thirds of British football fans believe there is too much gambling sponsorship in the sport while a third say they were put off from buying their team’s shirt if it carried the name of a betting sponsor. 

The survey of 1,000 fans was conducted by Survation for the new campaign group, the Coalition Against Gambling Ads.

It found that despite the Betting and Gaming Council’s “whistle-to-whistle ban” on gambling ads during sports events before 9pm, two-thirds of fans still believed that betting and online casino operators target too much advertising at football supporters.

Close to half of respondents said they would support a ban on gambling company logos appearing on football shirts – a measure that was proposed by former Labour politician Tom Watson, who is now working for Flutter and has been echoed by the House of Lords within its proposals for gambling reforms.

The Coalition Against Gambling Ads is supported by several charities and campaign groups including Clean Up Gambling, the Big Step and Gambling With Lives.

Matt Zarb-Cousin, director of Clean Up Gambling, said: “The government would have the backing of football fans if it decided to move against gambling ads, and clubs would benefit from an increase in shirt sales.”