Gambling Advertising Spend Down to £1.15 Billion in GB in 23/24

Operators licensed in Great Britain spent £1.15 billion on gambling advertising between October 2023 and September 2024, showing a slight decline from two years previously.

The report, commissioned by industry body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and produced independently by consultants Alvarez & Marsal, showed more than two thirds of the total advertising spend was on digital advertising.

A total of £768 million was spent in the digital format (66.8%). The remaining £341 million (29.6%) was spent on broadcast advertising.

A downward trend

The total expenditure on gambling advertising went down from the equivalent reporting period in 2021/22, at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.7%. This can be explained for the most part by a reduction in television advertising, which went down by £30 million, representing a 4.4% decrease at CAGR.

Gambling advertising accounted for 2.7% of spend in the total advertising market in Great Britain in 2024, which was reduced from a 3% share of total advertising spend in 2023.

The report also showed operators committed 20% of their advertising to safer gambling messaging, in addition to responsible gambling messaging that was showed in other advertisements.

A total of 72% of TV advertising by BGC members was showed after the 9pm watershed. In 2019, operators who were part of the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling imposed a whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling adverts showing during live sporting events prior to the watershed. Bingo advertising is exempt from the watershed.

Sponsorship and marketing spend should fall

Aside from advertising, a further £138 million was spent on sponsorship in the reporting period. However, this can be expected to significantly reduce in the near future.

From the start of the 2026/27 season, the English Premier League will enter a voluntary ban on having the front of their shirts sponsored by gambling operators. Operators will still be able to enter betting partnerships excluding the teams’ front of shirts.

It is widely expected gambling marketing spend will reduce following the implementation of increased online gambling taxes. On April 1, remote gaming duty, paid on online casino bets, will increase from 21% to 40% of gross gambling yield (GGY).

There will be a further tax increase in April 2027, when general betting duty, paid on online sports bets, will rise from 15% of GGY to 25%; bets on horseracing will be exempt from this.

Early signs

One of the early signs of operators reducing their marketing spend was Entain’s recent decision to end its sponsorship of the Cheltenham Festival, by concluding its sponsorship of the Coral Cup.

This brought an end to a 52-year sponsorship association with the festival, and Coral, owned by Entain, had been the sponsor of the Coral Cup race since its inception in 1993.

Following the announcement by Chancellor Rachel Reeves regarding the planned tax increases in November, several of the UK’s leading operators announced how they could be impacted. Flutter Entertainment, owner of Paddy Power and Sky Bet, expects the increases will cost the company approximately $320 million (£241.9 million) in fiscal 2026 and $540 million (£408.1 million) in fiscal 2027.

Evoke, owner of William Hill, said its duty costs will increase by £125 million to £135 million per year after the tax rises are fully implemented, with about £80 million of the pre-mitigation impact arising in FY26. Meanwhile, Entain forecast the changes will cost the company £200 million per year before mitigations are taken into account.

Entain said at the time that approximately 25% of the impact can be mitigated by reducing marketing and promotions as soon as the tax changes are implemented.