Last month, the House of Lords Liaison Select Committee published a report recommending a comprehensive ban on gambling advertising. With the UK gambling industry currently spending over £1 billion each year on advertising, and with content marketing and influencer-led promotions increasingly blurring the line between commercial messaging and editorial content, if the report's recommendations were accepted, it could reshape how brands, platforms, and agencies approach gambling-related work across every major channel.
Key findings of the report
The report follows up on the 2020 findings of the Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry, which first recommended a public health approach to tackling gambling-related harms. Six years on, the Liaison Committee concludes that the former committee's "strong recommendations have been largely unaddressed" and that a comprehensive advertising ban is "the most effective policy option to advance meaningfully the UK government's aim of reducing gambling harms". It notes that an estimated 1 to 1.5 million adults in Great Britain meet the criteria for problem gambling. Crucially, the Committee found that since the liberalisation introduced by the Gambling Act 2005, gambling advertising has "exploded." Before the 2005 Act, only bingo, football pools, the National Lottery, and other permitted lotteries were allowed to advertise on television and radio. Advertising was restricted on the basis that gambling should be "tolerated but not stimulated".
The report also criticises governments for being "far too passive" in responding to the growth of digital advertising and emerging techniques such as content marketing, which blurs the boundary between advertising and editorial content and appeals strongly to children. It highlights that Great Britain now has a stronger evidence base than comparable international jurisdictions on the link between gambling advertising and gambling harm, yet several other countries, including the Netherlands (which recently introduced plans for a blanket ban on gambling advertising), have moved ahead with significant restrictions, leaving Great Britain as a "comparative outlier".
The Committee further notes that there is a strong economic case for action. A recent study by the Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research estimated that a 10% reduction in spending on gambling could lead to an increase in gross value added (GVA) of £1.25 billion and create over 22,000 jobs, as consumer spending is reallocated to other areas of the economy.
Implications for digital, gambling, and creative businesses
Such a ban would represent a fundamental shift in the regulatory landscape. Significantly, the Committee was unconvinced by industry arguments that restricting licensed operators' advertising would drive customers towards the illegal market, concluding that concerns over the illegal market "must therefore not be a barrier to addressing the clear harms generated by the licensed sector".
If the government accepts these recommendations, the impact would be felt across multiple sectors. Gambling operators would face a near-total prohibition on marketing their services, affecting broadcast advertising, online display campaigns, social media promotions, and sports sponsorship arrangements. Digital advertising platforms and ad-tech companies that serve or facilitate gambling advertisements would see a significant reduction in revenue from this sector. Creative agencies that produce gambling campaigns, including video content, branded entertainment, and influencer partnerships, would need to pivot their client portfolios.
Looking Ahead
The government is expected to respond to the report in due course. The 2024 Labour Party manifesto included a commitment to tackle gambling-related harms, reforming gambling regulation, strengthening protections, and working with the industry to ensure responsible gambling. As a consequence, the political momentum behind advertising restrictions, coupled with growing public concern and changes in other jurisdictions, suggests that significant regulatory change may come.
Although change is not imminent, businesses with exposure to gambling-related advertising may wish to review advertising and sponsorship agreements that may contain termination or force majeure provisions triggered by regulatory change, content marketing arrangements that could fall within the scope of a broadened ban, and internal compliance processes that may need updating to future-proof against any new obligations.
