MPs Latest Plan To Ban All Gambling Adverts On TV
In their latest efforts to combat problematic gambling, the UK Government, led by former conservative minister Mike Penning, believe that only a complete and total ban on ALL gambling adverts ever being televised will provide a answer. MPs believe that this is the only solution to finally put a halt to an ever growing gambling epidemic.
Currently, it is believed that more than 430,000 adults in the United Kingdom have an addiction to gambling, something that, along with adverts exposing gambling to underage users, has led to the MPS calling for change.
In August, the gambling firms all agreed to a whistle to whistle ban on adverts being shown during live broadcasts of sporting events, but this is clearly not enough according to the government who believe that only a total removal of the offending adverts, on TV and online, will work and, as such, are backing a Commons motion calling the Government to intervene.
Millions Spent On Advertising
According to the latest set of figures released on the matter, the amount of money spent by gambling firms on online commercials has risen 56% in the past half a decade, jumping to an estimated £747 million, compared to the £234 million that is outlaid on television commercials. However surprising this is, it becomes understandable when you consider that online gamblers spend almost four times more than TV punters.
While the ban would not apply to the National Lottery and other fund raising games of chance, the move does have the support of the conservatives as well as the Welsh and Scottish nationalists, all of whom are expected to be joined by Labour over the coming week.
The government is also in the process of reviewing the gambling act which is deemed to be woefully out of date having been drafted in 2005 before the advent of smartphones, one of the major contributors to the boom in online gambling. This government has also been urged to crack down on bet to view programmes and incentives such as free bets and match tickets as offered by VIP schemes.
Adams Calls On Football And Gambling To Cut All Ties
Former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams has demanded that football cuts its ties with gambling companies altogether. Adams, who runs the charity Sporting Chance, has himself suffered with alcoholism.
In 2000, Adams, 53, launched the charity which supports athletes with mental health and addiction problems. Sporting Chance say that around 70% of the addiction disorders that it faces relating to footballers relate to gambling.
Adams said;
“As a charity we are not anti-gambling and not anti-drinking. We are very pro athlete who wants help. We are not involved in the politics of the gambling companies or sponsorship.
We don’t take any sponsorship from gambling or alcohol. It’s not part of me. I can’t be associated with something that nearly killed me. That would be morally wrong. When a sports person reaches out we are there to help.
Ideally I would get the advertising out of the game because it does influence people. They spend fortunes on the ads for a reason. It’s because it works. It normalises it and that’s the issue I have got.”
Adams declaration of war on the gambling industry comes just days after Hamilton Academical head coach Brian Rice was issued with a ten game dugout ban after admitting to breaching the gambling rules outlined by the Scottish FA, who were until 2019 sponsored by Ladbrokes and still display the William Hill logo on their official website.
At the back end of last year, Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend admitted that in 2013 he blew £46,000 in one night gambling online in bed before receiving an FA charge that he credits with saving his career and even his life.
