Horse racing and darts are most targeted sports, with social media companies using celebs and humour to relay messages
Research by Maynooth University and Ulster University said gambling marketing exposure has reached “saturation levels in certain sports, and traditional betting commercials are now only a small part of the strategy.
The all-island report examined several big sports events and found that in last year’s Paddy Power World Darts Championship, which was broadcast on Sky Sports in December and January, there were 1,159 references to gambling over two hours and 45 minutes.
A spokesperson for Paddy Power said it had yet to see the findings of the report.
“For several years we have been at the forefront of driving higher industry standards on social media and continue to do so,” the spokesperson said.
“Separately, our partnership at the World Darts Championship with Prostate Cancer UK saw our marketing used to encourage 136,000 men to check out their risk of developing cancer. We do not and never intend to market to children.”
A spokesperson for Sky Ireland said: “Sky adheres to all relevant advertising codes, including the Broadcast Advertising Code, which includes rules on the scheduling, placement and targeting of gambling ads aiming to limit the appeal and exposure to children and prevent gambling advertising from being exploitative.”
Media companies and sports organisations must remove their reliance on revenues from gambling-related content
The report said men’s darts and horse racing were the most gambling-saturated forms of television broadcasts.
Its authors said some of the marketing on Instagram and television appeals to young people because it involves celebrities using humour to relay the message. On Instagram, companies are producing videos with celebrity partnerships and challenges.
Although not “explicit” gambling marketing, these companies are indirectly glamorising gambling and building brand awareness, the report said. There is a lack of understanding among younger people about how gambling can be detrimental to health and many are unaware of the harms beyond financial losses.
A gambling reference, in terms of broadcast media, corresponds to every instance that the report’s authors recorded a gambling marketing communication – verbal and/or textual – from a gambling company, broadcaster, commentator or presenter.
These references included a variety of formats such as commercial adverts, verbal references, display of logos in various places and sponsorship lead-ins.
Professor Aphra Kerr, adjunct professor of sociology at Maynooth University, said: “Some sports programmes on television have so much gambling marketing in them that they should be labelled as sponsored programmes.
“If we are serious about introducing a public-health approach to gambling, and we want to protect the integrity of sport, then media companies and sports organisations must remove their reliance on revenues from gambling marketing and gambling-related content.”
The researchers said that current gambling regulations and approaches in both the Republic and in Northern Ireland are “ineffective in limiting the exposure of young people to gambling marketing, and its frequency, when sports and media organisations are willing to carry them”.
The report said both governments need to legislate to curtail the volume, frequency and timing of gambling marketing. The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland was contacted for comment.