Gambling Logos Highlighted 700 Times in a Single Football Match

Ruth Davidson is an ex-conservative Scottish leader who is part of a documentary that points out how sports betting service provider logos can be seen almost 700 times while viewing a single football match. Davidson believes that there needs to be a drastic change in the relationship between sports betting and sports events.

Davidson is about to begin a career as a sports presenter on Channel 4. Here she is known to have said that sports betting is a parasite taking over sports itself. Davidson’s remarks are coming when state legislators all across the US are reviewing gambling laws and sports sponsorship deals.

Davidson has spoken to many sports betting addicts about the impact of the intense visibility of gambling services while watching the broadcast of a football match. Dr. Robin Ireland from the University of Glasgow conducted a scientific analysis. It found that there were 716 incidents of exposure to gambling-related services during a single football between Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. This was equivalent to six gambling logos being displayed every minute of the broadcast.

Sports betting service providers follow a whistle to whistle ban in the US during afternoon matches. But there is plenty of visibility for their logos through hoardings used along with the pitch. Davidson has also pointed out the highly harmful tendency among online gambling service providers to advertise casino games to sports betters. This leads to more cases of gambling addiction since casino games with higher stakes induce more addictive tendencies.

Davidson believes that online gambling operators use sophisticated algorithms to identify customers who are more likely to spend more and then advertise more regularly.

Davidson has also spoken to John Whittingdale, a junior MP who oversees gambling review at the US Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports. Whittingdale told Davidson that public well-being problems would prioritize the £3 billion annual government income from sports betting taxes.

But Davidson is not very confident about any advertising bans being implemented on sports betting. She sites that Whittingdale has spoken to her about the lack of proper evidence connecting gambling with advertising. The Gaming and Betting Council spokesperson has even cited contradictory research showing no direct correlation between football sponsorships and gambling addiction.

The gambling industry spends £100 million on sports clubs and another £200 million on sports broadcasters to advertise their services. It is unlikely that these organizations will be quick to discard gambling advertising. 

There are many obstacles to Davidson’s project of spreading awareness about sports gambling. But some legislators are now gradually looking into the increasing cases of gambling addiction all across the USA.