According to exclusive research by Guardian, hockey fans are bombarded in television coverage by gambling logos and ads (sometimes every 13 seconds).
A new study from the University of Bristol found that viewers in the June Stanley Cup final encountered an average of 3.5 marketing messages per minute.
The gambling industry in the United States has surged since the Supreme Court overturned the 2018 federal sports betting ban. Today, sports betting is legal in 39 states and Washington, D.C. — online bookmakers have spent billions of dollars to attract users in an increasingly competitive market.
Industry operators have been accused by critics of turning high-profile sports games into “a second chance to gambling” when they invest heavily in advertising, billboards and sponsorship agreements.
“Continuous marketing is particularly dangerous for young and vulnerable groups and opens the door to interact with this well-known, addictive product for a new generation of potential gamblers,” Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko told The Guardian.
Research by University of Bristol researchers analyzed gambling marketing in six NHL finals, as well as seven NBA finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In these 13 games, the researchers recorded 6,282 gambling-related marketing examples. These include in-game casinos, ice rinks and court ads, in-game mentions and ads for gambling company logos. It is worth noting that 94% of instances are recorded in NHL broadcasts.
The report found that in NHL games, gambling logos and ads are displayed on average 3.5 times per minute, and the most saturated game is 4.7 gambling-related marketing examples, equivalent to every 13 seconds.
In contrast, NBA broadcasts average only 0.26 gambling reference per minute. The researchers noted that this difference may be partly due to the NBA’s growing use of platforms such as YouTube, which imposes stricter restrictions on gambling ads.
Scholars reviewed each broadcast as well as pre-match coverage. The most common format for gambling messaging is in vivo visual effects, which appear on ice rinks, electronic boards, Jersey tablets, and other static structures, the study found.
They noted that this type of ad is “continuously exposed” for the brand throughout the game. Logo placement is the most common type of advertising in the game. Advertising is low frequency, but still results in overall volumes.
Request for suppression
Things have changed dramatically in just seven years since the Supreme Court’s ruling. Stephen Shapiro, a professor of sports management at the University of South Carolina, until 2018, “most sports organizations don’t want to be related to gambling.”
But now, he said: “You can see it in terms of the partnership between the league and the team and the sports gambling entity, and athlete marketing is part of the marketing effort, and that really puts it in the barriers that exist in the public perception to make it a more acceptable and supportive activity.”
Shapiro noted that in-game advertising has long been an effective strategy for the entire industry and is especially valuable for sports bookmakers, as viewers can bet in real time throughout the live event. He added that even subtle advertising locations, such as logos on jerseys or around stadiums, can help build the brand’s credibility.
In the UK, psychology experts from four UK universities conducted similar research in 2023 Discover In a television-based Premier League football match, the gambling logo appeared as many as 3,500 times, most commonly in Pitchside Hoardings.
“When you consider almost any other form of media content, we either pay to not own ads, or we try to skip ads,” said Andrew Billings, director of the Sports Communications Program at the University of Alabama. However, with sports, you can count on most viewers to “see ads because they are tuned to live games.”
In the new study, researchers recommend that the U.S. introduce federal legislation to regulate gambling marketing in sports, including defining how it appears and possibly limiting the amount of gambling information allowed per broadcast.
Billings said he believes the U.S. may need “national legalization, then consistent regulations to try to crack down on what appears to be an early sign of escalating sports gambling addiction.”
The responsible online gaming association, the NHL and the NBA did not respond to requests for comment.
Joe Maloney, spokesman for the American Gaming Association, said: “If UK professors are interested in the commitment of strong AGA member companies to responsible advertising, they are welcome to interact with us directly in lieu of their current annual leaks and predictable leaks to the UK media.”
Maloney pointed at Aga Research release Earlier this year, sports betting accounted for only 0.4% of U.S. TV ads in 2024, less than alcohol and medicines.
July Poll From the National Issues Gambling Council, although the surge in risk gambling behavior observed during the 19th pandemic has alleviated the harm associated with gambling “still be widespread, especially among young adults, sports casinos and online gambling.”
According to the survey, nearly 20 million American adults have experienced at least problematic gambling “multiple times” in the past year.
over the years, Many studies conduct Countries have Draw links Between exposure to gambling advertising and increasing participation in gambling, Especially among vulnerable people.
Tonko, who proposed the Safety BET Act in Congress, said he would “establish benchmark standards” to protect consumers and public health. “Now more than ever, a powerful public health-centered approach to addressing this growing crisis is needed.”
But John Fortunato, a professor specializing in sports media at Fordham University, doesn’t expect to see gambling ads drop anytime soon. He said such regulations will now “have to be achieved through legislation and all of these states, such as tax revenues”.
“Everyone makes money from it,” Fonato added.
Health & Wellness Contributor
A wellness enthusiast and certified nutrition advisor, Meera covers everything from healthy living tips to medical breakthroughs. Her articles aim to inform and inspire readers to live better every day.
