New research has revealed that gambling messages during the opening weekend of this season’s Premier League remained at extremely high levels, with more than 27,000 recorded — almost three times higher than in 2023 — leaving fans, including children, at risk.
For the third year running, researchers from the University of Bristol found that football fans were bombarded with gambling ads. This year’s investigation additionally uncovered thousands of ads that breach the rules set by the industry itself, further highlighting systemic failures and adding fresh urgency to calls for government action.
As with the previous two years, researchers analysed the prevalence of gambling marketing during the opening weekend of the Premier League across four key platforms: live match broadcasts, Sky Sports News, TalkSport radio, and social media ads.
Between August 15 and 18, a total of 27,440 gambling messages were recorded - a slight fall from 29,415 in last year, but still far above the 10,999 messages recorded in 2023.
Gambling marketing in the UK is regulated through a mixture of self-regulation, either via the Advertising Standards Authority, or voluntary industry codes. Yet research has continuously shown that this approach fails to protect consumers from gambling-related harms.
Project lead Dr Raffaello Rossi, Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Impact Lead for Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, said: “Year on year, the problem seems to get worse, despite the industry’s promises of better self-regulation. While the overall numbers remained extremely high, we found a huge rise in cases where rules are either breached or simply don’t work.
“The Premier League is now so saturated with gambling marketing that brands are fighting each other for every inch of advertising space. The evidence is now overwhelming: self-regulation has failed. Voluntary codes are protecting profits, not fans. The question now is how much more evidence the Government needs before it finally steps in to act.”
Examining almost 29 hours of live football broadcasts, researchers observed 21,815 gambling messages on hoardings, stadium structure, and football shirts – three times more than two years ago – amounting to 12.6 gambling messages per minute.
The highest number of gambling messages were found during the match between Wolverhampton and Manchester City, totalling 5,262 - an average of 22 ads per minute. Indeed, one third of the total broadcast time had at least one gambling logo present.
As with last year, the findings point to the failure of self-regulatory measures such as the gambling industry’s “whistle-to-whistle” ban. Introduced in 2019, as an attempt to reduce gambling marketing during football, the policy applies only to television commercials shown from five minutes before kick-off until five minutes after the final whistle, before 9pm.
Yet the reality is that gambling logos still dominate the screen throughout live play. This year’s study revealed that that the ban is vastly ineffective, with over 13,262 gambling messages during the restricted time – a 32% increase from the 10,027 recorded last year.
Echoing last year’s critique, the report authors say this adds further evidence that the proposed ban is largely tokenistic and unlikely to significantly reduce exposure to gambling advertising.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, Chair of the Gambling Reform APPG, said: “This level of gambling advertising during the Premier League’s first weekend is frankly astonishing. The industry claimed it was taking steps to self-regulate and reduce advertising but yet again they have not kept to their word. The whistle-to-whistle ban is far too limited and is ineffective. The commitment to reduce front of shirt logos is a tokenistic gesture while the regulators seem incapable of having any impact or properly protecting consumers.
“Time and again we see gambling companies fail in their commitments to self-regulate and the regulators are completely out of step with a fast-evolving industry. The number of gambling adverts must be vastly reduced to stop the proliferation of harms and protect children.”
The study also uncovered widespread promotion by unlicensed operators. Around 1 in 10 gambling ads found — totalling 2,412 messages from 13 brands — came from companies without a UK licence. This represents a direct breach of the industry’s Sponsorship Code of Conduct and underlines how voluntary self-regulation is failing even on its own terms.
Dr Rossi added: “It is one thing for self-regulation to be ineffective — but it is even more alarming when the industry doesn’t even stick to their own rules. That makes it clear this system was never designed to protect fans. The Government already has the authority to act, and the delay is becoming increasingly indefensible.”
The report found that 42% of organic gambling ads on social media were not clearly identifiable as advertising, in breach of the CAP Code. Yet a major loophole meant eight of the ten gambling brands examined fell outside the ASA’s remit because their offices were registered abroad. Although this loophole was only closed on 1 September 2025, the ads in this study were collected in August and were therefore not covered.
As a result, 371 (38%) of the social media ads, escaped oversight altogether. Projected over a year, this loophole allowed more than 30,000 gambling ads to slip past regulation, despite the regulator being aware of this for years. Social media gambling ads generated over 34 million views, representing a marked increase from last year’s 24 million.
Lord Foster of Bath, Chair of Peers for Gambling Reform, said: “This research underlines the total inadequacy of gambling advertising regulation in this country. Peers for Gambling Reform has set out repeatedly that self-regulation does not work and this research underscores this. The ASA codes and the ASA itself are totally ineffective – it is a toothless organisation that is failing to protect consumers.
"The government must simply step in to reduce peoples’ and particularly children’s exposure to gambling advertising that we know can lead to harm. The government has all the powers it needs to protect people and it must do so now.”
One of the main differences in this year’s report is the increase in the number of brands entering the market from 31 in 2024 to 43 in 2025. Nearly 30,000 ads in two consecutive years demonstrates the saturation of gambling marketing in this space.
Former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton CBE, who experienced gambling problems himself and together with his wife is a patron of this research initiative, said: “Last year’s findings were alarming, but this year they are simply indefensible. Gambling advertising in football has reached saturation point, with even the industry’s own rules being broken.
“What troubles us most is the impact on children, who are once again being exposed to thousands of gambling ads during games – now even from unlicenced brands. We are proud to be patrons of this important study, which shines a light on a problem that has been ignored for too long and shows why urgent government action is now needed.”
The Premier League investigation is the latest in a series of groundbreaking studies conducted by members of the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, whose work has influenced public policy, strengthened consumer protection, and shaped more inclusive treatment services for those affected by gambling harms. Their work will be showcased at the Hub’s third international colloquium on Thursday 16 October.