Renewed efforts to ban gambling advertisements on London’s transport system have been sparked.
The recent Gambling Survey of Great Britain published by the UKGC highlighted growing problems in the industry, including a rise in problematic gambling habits.
London Assembly Member Krupesh Hirani spoke on the issue, referring to London as “the frontline of the nation’s gambling crisis”.
Hirani, 39, identified factors that contributed to the rise of gambling in the capital. He listed the following as contributing factors:
- The cost of living crisis.
- Housing prices.
- Rising levels of poverty.
What Else Did Hirani Say?
Hirani made the argument that because Mayor Sadiq Khan, 55, managed to ban fast food advertisements on public transport with the health department’s backing, why can’t he do the same with gambling?
Calls for changes to gambling advertisements have been in conversation for the past few years. Recent research shows that more gambling advertisements continue to breach rules in sports, and researchers advocate for these ads to be banned.
Does the Government Have Plans To Change Gambling Ad Rules?
No, at the moment, there are no plans to change the rules regarding gambling advertisements in the UK. In fact, a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson told The BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service that the government had no plans to “legislate for restrictions to gambling advertising”.
Why Will The Government Not Make Any Changes?
Like it or not, gambling brings lots of money into the UK economy. Whether it is online or land-based, the Igaming sector in the UK is lucrative. From April 2023 to March 2024, the sector made £15.6 billion, according to the UKGC.
From these ads alone, I’d go out on a limb and say the UK advertising industry is spending and making lots of money from these billboards on trains, in stations, and in areas of public transport.
Therefore, that money goes back into the UK economy and can be used to make advertisements bigger and more elaborate.
The Standard reported that Transport for London earned £663,640 between April 2022 and March 2023 from gambling adverts, which could tell you why the government may not want to ban or limit gambling ads on UK public transport.
On the other hand, banning gambling adverts could lead to a significant loss in revenue. When a similar ban on fast food advertising was introduced, TfL reportedly lost around £25 million a year in advertising income as a result.
While we don’t know what’s next for gambling advertisements in the UK, we don’t think a ban is on the horizon.
