A University of Bristol report found that despite the latest restrictions, gambling promotions remained common during Premier League broadcasts on the opening weekend of the 2026/27 season.
The study, Gambling Marketing and the Premier League: Four Years of Failed Self-Regulation, documented 15,571 gambling marketing messages across the four media channels between August 21 and 24, 2026. The total fell from the exceptionally high levels recorded in 2024 and 2025, but it remained 41.57% above the 2023 figures.
Researchers concluded that voluntary measures introduced by the gambling and football industries did not provide a meaningful reduction in exposure. They called for comprehensive legislation, independent enforcement and meaningful sanctions.
Live Football Broadcasts Account for Most Messages
The research spotted 11,205 gambling marketing messages across seven televised matches, or 48.64% less than the 21,815 from 2025. However, the total remained 60.85% higher than in 2023.
It was determined that one or more gambling messages appeared in 19.62% of the analysed broadcast time, or the equivalent of five hours and 16 minutes. In total, the seven broadcasts averaged 6.95 gambling messages per minute.
Newcastle United versus Liverpool recorded the highest exposure, with 2,702 messages and an average of 12.17 messages per broadcast minute. Meanwhile, Brentford and Tottenham Hotspur were second with 1,950 messages, while Fulham vs Chelsea had 1,907.
At the same time, pitchside advertising was the most notable format, accounting for 57.93% of live-broadcast messages, while static pitchside advertising represented another 14.13%.
The findings also underline the limited impact of the EPL’s front-of-shirt sponsorship ban, which applies from the start of the 2026/27 season. Gambling logos are now almost entirely gone from the front of matchday shirts, but the researchers estimated that the measure led to a reduction of only 10.5% in live-match messages when sponsorship lead-ins were excluded.
Meanwhile, messages on shirt sleeves and training kits increased from an annual average of 122 in 2023-2025 to 563 in 2026, or a rise of approximately 363%.
The report also identified four brands without UKGC licences among those appearing during live matches. Messages promoting unregulated brands accounted for 8.46% of the total, broadly similar to the 8.6% recorded in 2025.
Gambling Marketing Extends Beyond Match Coverage
Sky Sports News and TalkSport radio were also analysed, as the study found that gambling marketing remained prominent across both channels.
Sky Sports News featured 2,637 gambling messages during the analysed coverage on 22 August, down from 4,510 in 2025. Of these, 233 messages, or 8.84%, promoted brands not licensed to operate in Great Britain.
Pitchside advertising accounted for 59.41% of the messages recorded on the sports news channel, while harm-reduction messages were shown in just 5.38% of individual ads. Worryingly, age-restriction messages appeared in 4.04%.
In total, TalkSport featured 207 gambling messages, or 45.77% more than the 142 in 2025, with commercial ads accounting for 87.92% of these messages.
Unlike televised football and sports news, radio coverage had substantially higher levels of responsible gambling messaging. Both harm-reduction and age-restriction messages appeared in 97.37% of individual instances.
Gambling Ads Reach Younger Social Media Users
As part of the research, experts also examined social media, including leading gambling brands’ paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram and their organic posts on X.
The study identified 1,522 advertisements and posts during the opening weekend, up 56.42% from 973 in 2025. This included 1,023 paid advertisements and 499 organic posts.
Organic content marketing accounted for 369 posts, or 74% of the organic sample. These posts generated approximately 16.7 million views, 12,459 shares and 132,252 likes across all organic content.
According to the study, 93% of organic content-marketing posts were not clearly identifiable as advertising. These posts often used football references, humour and entertainment to promote collabs with gambling operators without explicitly advertising sports betting.
The report also raised concerns about the reach of paid gambling ads within younger demographics. Meta advertising data showed 16.6 million instances of advertising reach among users aged 18-24, or 10.9% of the total reported reach. Male users accounted for 75.6% of this younger reach.
Researchers insist the findings emphasise faults in the industry’s voluntary safeguards intended to prevent gambling advertising from reaching people under 25.
The social media figures should be interpreted with some caution. Reported reach can include the same account across multiple advertisements and does not represent the number of unique individuals exposed.
Researchers Call for Legislative Reform
The report concludes that existing voluntary restrictions have not drastically reduced gambling marketing in football.
Researchers explain the measures have largely shifted advertising into formats that remain permitted, including pitchside hoardings, stadium structures, shirt sleeves, training kits and embedded sponsorship branding.
They also argue that the current approach lacks measurable targets, effective monitoring and meaningful consequences for non-compliance.
Recommendations include a comprehensive whistle-to-whistle ban covering all forms of gambling marketing during sporting events, which would extend to sponsorship, pitchside advertising, stadium branding, radio and social media.
Seeking Changes in Gambling Marketing
The researchers also called for the implementation of mandatory responsible gambling messages with minimum standards for size, importance and duration, as well as a ban on gambling marketing that conceals its commercial purpose.
Another recommendation is to restrict gambling sponsorship visible to British consumers to UKGC-licensed operators. Clubs, leagues and broadcasters would be legally responsible for verifying sponsors' licensing status.
The report’s conclusions align with those of the House of Lords Liaison Committee, which in September 2026 sought a comprehensive ban on gambling advertising, describing it as the most effective long-term policy option.
