Regulatory approaches to reducing harm from gambling advertising
IAGR partner, Greo, provides IAGR members with a snapshot of regulatory approaches to online gambling worldwide.
Greo is an independent knowledge translation and exchange organisation with two decades of international experience helping organisations improve their programs, policies and practices by harnessing the power of evidence and stakeholder insight.
This month, Greo have shared a selection of research around gambling advertising.
The proliferation of gambling advertising has led to concerns about impacts on vulnerable populations including children, young people, and others at high risk of experiencing gambling-related harms. Legislative and regulatory bodies have an important role to play to protect individuals, families, and communities against harms related to exposure to gambling advertisements.
How can effective regulatory measures for advertisements be developed to prevent and reduce gambling-related harms?
Recently published gambling research
Below is a selection of plain language research summaries published in the last year that explore gambling advertisements and related harms:
- Gambling ads have a greater impact on people with lower social support
- Exploring the link between gambling marketing and unplanned gambling spend in Britain
- Exposure to different types of gambling promotions and gambling behaviours among Australian secondary school students
- An experimental study to test the impact of including betting odds in digital gambling ads for sports betting
- How do people who bet on sports respond to social media marketing by gambling operators versus affiliate accounts?
- Problems in regulating social media advertisements for esports betting
- How does gambling advertising impact people with at-risk and problem gambling?
- Examining the content of gambling advertising slogans
- The content, delivery, and characteristics of gambling advertisements
- The relationship between gaming disorder, spending, loot box gaming, and ad watching
Evidence-informed action
Below are examples of harm prevention measures taken by stakeholders in different jurisdictions. Gambling regulators might consider some of these actions as they create or revise regulatory frameworks in relation to advertising.
Australia
Gambling companies in Australia will be required to include new warnings on all their advertising in April 2023. The new regulations will require companies to include mandatory pre-written taglines, such as, “Chances are, you’re about to lose,” along with information on where to seek help. Other messages include, “What’s gambling really costing you?”, “Imagine what you could be buying instead,” and “You win some. You lose more.” Operators will be required to use these new warnings on ads as of March 2023.
United Kingdom
The Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP) in the UK has introduced new rules for gambling ads to protect young people and vulnerable audiences. The new rules significantly restrict the imagery and references that gambling ads are allowed to use. The aim is to decrease the potential for gambling ads to attract the attention of people under the age of 18. Ads will not be able to use topflight footballers and footballers with a considerable following among under-18s on social media, any sportspeople well-known to under-18s, references to video game content and gameplay popular with under-18s, and stars from reality shows popular with under-18s.
- Tough new rules to curb broad appeal of gambling ads and better protect under-18s
- Remit statement: ‘content marketing’ for gambling products online
Spain
News rules for gambling advertising were passed in October 2022 to strengthen an existing ban on sports sponsorships by gambling companies, and to enforce a 1-to-5 am window for the broadcasting of gambling advertisements on television and radio. The new rules will ensure that advertisements do not claim that status, prestige, mental health, or economic stability can be achieved through gambling, along with other socially responsible restrictions.
United States
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission produced a white paper that examines gambling advertising in the US. It focuses on the impacts of advertising and regulations around gambling advertising. The purpose of the paper is to provide information to inform policies related to gambling advertising.
