Gambling companies are “reaping considerable profits” and sports organisations, the media and the government are benefiting financially from the growth in gambling, according to a new report.
The cross-border study said sports bodies operating on the island of Ireland, and in receipt of State funding, should be required to eliminate their reliance on gambling marketing at all sporting venues.
The research team, comprising academics from Ulster University, Maynooth University and University College Dublin (UCD), conducted interviews with 70 young people, aged between 14 and 24, living on either side of the border.
They also examined sporting events — football, rugby, darts, horse racing and athletics — broadcasted on television, mostly mainstream channels as well as on social media platforms between October 2023 and January 2024.
The report called ‘Code Red’ said that the volume, frequency and exposure to gambling marketing on broadcast TV “varies significantly” across different sports and channels.
Men’s darts, horse racing and English Premier League football, in that order, were the “most saturated” forms of television. Darts made up 54% of gambling references by sport, followed by horse racing (42%). Football accounted for 2%.
On Instagram, it found gambling operators provided a range of content: ‘informative content’ relating to upcoming sporting events and statistics; ‘entertainment content’, which was sport-related humourous sketches and interviews, and ‘promotional content’ involving information about their gambling product and time-limited inducements.
The report said: “Gambling operators, sporting organisations, media companies and governments are complicit in this situation through either action or inaction.”
It described a “disturbing pattern of ‘gamblification’ of both sports programmes on television and sporting events”, which it said “completely ignores” the public health risks.
It said the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland and gambling regulator had a “considerable task” ahead of them and said their work must bring together all the relevant departments (justice, sport, education and health).
“While many companies in the gambling industry are reaping considerable profits, sports, media and governments are also benefiting from the growth in gambling,” the report said.