Gambling sponsors in club programmes a concern

Gambling campaigners have raised concerns about the prevalence of betting logos in football literature targeted at children.

A study of 44 Premier League and Championship teams revealed that more than half of dedicated children's sections in club programmes contains some form of gambling marketing, such as shirt sponsors.

Gambling messages were thirteen times more common than marketing of other products such as alcohol, and messages about safer gambling, leading to concern betting is being normalised at a young age.

A ban on gambling logos appearing on football strips has been mooted by the government as part of a wider reigning in of gambling laws due to be announced this month.

However, Whitehall officials have distanced themselves from the idea of a ban on logos, and another measure to enact a statutory levy on gambling companies, in recent weeks.

James Grimes, of The Big Step - an organisation that campaigns to end gambling advertising and sponsorship in football - told the BBC:

"Gambling sponsors are gambling adverts, and having so many in a kids' section of a programme is not normal and not safe. Children should be able to follow their club without seeing any.

"An end to all gambling advertising in football would significantly reduce the amount of influential nudges to gamble that kids have to endure on a daily basis."

CARE is campaigning for a suite of measures to modernise, and extend Britain's gambling laws and shift the emphasis towards a public health approach.

A recent YouGov survey suggested that 1,400,000 people in Britain are being harmed by gambling, with a further 1,500,000 at risk of being harmed.