Hub academics, Dr Raffaello Rossi, Professor Agnes Nairn and Professor Sharon Collard, submitted evidence to the inquiry and this evidence was cited in the report produced by the Committee. The Hub’s evidence submission primarily focussed on the role and impact of advertising, particularly on young children. It concluded that “a full social media gambling advertising ban might be the only way to ensure the protection of vulnerable groups in this area” or that at the bare minimum “specific online advertising regulations need to be introduced”.  

The Committee’s report recognised that the White Paper proposes changes to the regulation of gambling advertising, including new rules around direct marketing and promotional offers. However, it suggested that the Government “should have taken a more precautionary approach to gambling advertising and sports sponsorship overall, particularly to reduce children’s exposure.”

Not only does the Committee’s report cite the Hub’s evidence, but it also cites research in their press-release carried out by Hub members Dr Raffaello Rossi and Dr Jamie Wheaton into the number of gambling messages broadcast on TV and radio over the opening weekend of the 2023/24 English Premier League season. The research showed that policies such as the voluntary front-of-shirt ban and whistle-to-whistle ban do not go far enough to protect sports fans, and especially children, from excessive exposure to gambling. 

The Committee report calls for “the Government to work with the Premier League and the governing bodies of other sports to ensure that the gambling sponsorship code of conduct contains provisions reducing the volume of gambling adverts in stadia… and that a higher proportion of gambling advertising in stadia is dedicated to independently-developed safer gambling messaging.”