House of Lords Committee Calls for Complete Gambling Advertising Ban

A comprehensive gambling advertising ban in the UK has been recommended by a House of Lords Liaison Committee, which argues this would meaningfully advance the government’s plans to reduce gambling harms.

A report was released following three panels that were heard by the committee in June. Evidence was provided by three campaigners, three industry representatives and three regulatory figures. The resulting report found gambling harm remains a major public health issue and that the gambling industry is particularly reliant on a small proportion of higher-spending players.

Advertising liberalisation

Gambling advertising was liberalised in the UK following the passing of the Gambling Act 2005. Prior to this, advertising was restricted to bingo, the football pools, the National Lottery and other permitted lotteries, which were all permitted to advertise on television and radio.

The report summary reads:

“Great Britain has a stronger evidence base than comparable international jurisdictions on the link between gambling advertising and gambling harm. Despite this, several other jurisdictions have moved ahead with significant advertising restrictions to tackle gambling harm, leaving Great Britain as a comparative outlier. There are also clear indications of public concern at the volume of gambling advertising.

“The Committee highlights that there is a strong case that meaningful steps to reduce gambling harms would lead to overall long-term economic benefits that would support the government’s mission to grow the wider economy, particularly through a reduction in the economic cost of problem gambling itself and reallocation of gambling spend to other areas of the economy.”

The other jurisdictions the committee referred to could include Italy, where the 2018 Dignity Decree imposed a strict prohibition on all gambling-related advertising and sponsorships. A similar ban is in place in Belgium, where under the 2023 Royal Decree, gambling advertising is banned by default. Meanwhile, the Netherlands plans to ban online gambling advertising and bonuses, despite the regulated online market opening just five years ago in 2021.

White Paper differences

The report, which acknowledged that establishing a definitive link between gambling advertising and gambling harm is a challenge, was a follow up to a July 2020 report of the Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry. That report recommended a public health approach to tackling gambling-related harms. The 66 recommendations from that report preceded the 2023 Gambling White Paper.

The Gambling White Paper was one of the most significant publications in the history of gambling in the UK, setting out more than 60 proposals to update the country’s gambling laws. Among the terms recommended were affordability checks, in an attempt to protect players spending a certain amount within a certain timeframe, improved identification checks, a statutory levy, and caps on online slot stakes.

Advertising and marketing though were areas that were broadly left untouched by the White Paper, as up to this point, advertising has primarily been restricted by self-regulation. In 2019, the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling imposed a whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling adverts showing during live sporting events prior to the 9pm watershed.

Advertising spend dropped

A report commissioned by industry trade body the Betting and Gaming Council found operators licensed in Great Britain spent £1.15 billion on gambling advertising between October 2023 and September 2024. 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%.