Call to ban gambling sponsors in UK sport as hidden harms are revealed

A report by the UK’s gambling industry regulator reveals that the true extent of problem gambling may be hidden, as eleven Premier League teams start the season with major bookmaker sponsors.

The official problem gambling rate in Britain is as low as 0.3%, but this figure can be misleading by including people who never gamble. Excluding non-gamblers, the rate rises sharply, particularly among online casino users.

The National Centre for Social Research and the University of Glasgow found that 2.5% of British adults might struggle with problem gambling, eight times higher than previously thought.

For those who gambled in the past year, the rate was 4.1%. Among online slot players, 24.5% showed signs of problem gambling.

The Gambling Commission notes that new survey methodologies may overstate gambling harms, or previous surveys may have underestimated them.

The industry uses low population-wide figures to argue against stricter regulations. However, problem gambling rates are significantly higher when focusing on active gamblers and riskier gambling forms.

A study in the Lancet reports that 15.8% of online casino players globally experience gambling disorder – this is about 1 in 6 people.

The latest Gambling Survey for Great Britain stresses that population prevalence rates mask the severity of gambling issues among actual gamblers.

Will Prochaska from the Coalition Against Gambling Ads calls for updated legislation, critiquing the previous government’s reliance on potentially understated figures.

He says, “We need a new gambling act which puts the protection of the public at its heart.”

Lib Dem peer Don Foster, chair of the Peers for Gambling Reform, urges immediate action based on the new survey, calling the figures a “wake-up call” for urgent action.

Foster is calling for the implementation of a £100m-a-year levy on gambling firms for research, prevention, and treatment, and a ban on direct marketing and sport sponsorship.

He says, “We also need to ban direct marketing and any form of sponsorship in sport. Gambling should be treated as a public health issue in the same way as drugs, alcohol and tobacco.”

Just this week, 11 Premier League clubs have been criticised for their gambling sponsorships for this coming season. A ban for front-of-shirt sponsorship has been set for the 2026-27 season.