Universities to start research project responding to UK Gambling Act review

The research will probe gambling’s impact on public health.

UK.- A new academic research project will investigate the impact of gambling on public health, particularly with regard to sports sponsorships. With £1.6m in funding, the project is a response to the UK government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act, which led to the publication of its Gambling White Paper in May.

The University of Nottingham, University of Glasgow and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine will conduct the project with funding from the Welcome Institute.

Anna Greenwood, professor of Health History at the University of Nottingham, said: “We are so excited to have achieved this award which will show just how important historical precedents have been in shaping contemporary responses to sports sponsorship by unhealthy industries. We need to better understand the past to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.”

The researchers noted that the Gambling White Paper had proposed reforms for online casinos, including stake limits for slots, but had not proposed “any definitive restrictions on gambling sponsorships in professional sport’. The paper did include mention of code of conduct on sports clubs’ relationships with betting operators, but the Premier League’s decision to introduce a voluntary ban on front-of-shirt sponsorship seems to have avoided any mandatory ban.

Researchers hope data will show how sponsorships have evolved and how regulatory limitations have been negotiated or avoided. They say their work may inform the debate on betting sponsorships in UK sport.

Heather Wardle, professor of Gambling Research and Policy at the University of Glasgow and co-director of Gambling Research Glasgow, said: “Given the near ubiquity of professional football and gambling partnerships, it’s often difficult to remember that it didn’t used to be this way. 

“As the gambling industry extends their partnerships with other sports, it’s vital to explore the actions they took to establish this “new normal”. This project will examine how commercial power and decision-making has influenced our sporting environments and what should be done about it.”