The visibility of gambling sponsorship in football related products marketed directly to children

ABSTRACT

UK law prohibits direct marketing of gambling to children. However, our data, gathered between 2018 and 2020, demonstrate that gambling logos occur frequently in football-related products and media consumed by children. This is a pressing issue for policymakers because research suggests that although children engage with football as spectators, they engage more often through readily available material culture. Discussions in the media about sponsorship of football teams by gambling companies have focused on the exposure of children to advertisements during live broadcasts. Analysing visible gambling sponsorship in children’s media, this paper shows how a single gambling logo on a player’s shirt is refracted many times through collectable cards, football magazines and the mediatized ‘play’ of a child fan’s world. It concludes that discussions around gambling advertising and its impact on children should be informed by an awareness of how children, as opposed to adults, engage with football.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Davies, ‘Half of Premier League Clubs to Have Gambling Sponsors for 2019–20 Season’, The Guardian, July 19.

2. Ibid.

3. Jones, ‘Gambling Sponsorship and Advertising in British Football: A Critical Account.’

4. BBC News, ‘Luton Town “not Comfortable” with Gambling Sponsorship, Says Chief Executive’ BBC Sport, November 22.

5. Financial Times, ‘GVC Urges End to Broadcast Gambling Ads and Football Shirt Sponsorship’, April 25.

6. Bunn et al, ‘Shirt Sponsorship by Gambling Companies in the English and Scottish Premier Leagues: Global Reach and Public Health Concerns’, 8.

7. Davies, ‘How the betting industry have become Inextricably linked to football’, The Guardian, Jan 2020.

8. Thomson & Williams, ‘Children as Football Fans: An Exploratory Study of Team and Player Connections’.

9. Skelton, ‘A Passion for Football’: Dominant Masculinities and Primary Schooling’.

10. Thomson & Williams, ‘Children as Football Fans: An Exploratory Study of Team and Player Connections’.

11. Ibid., 338.

12. Ibid., 336.

13. Ibid., 338.

14. Johansen, ‘Being a Football Kid. Football as a Mediatised Play Practice’.

15. Ibid.

16. Thomson and Williams ‘Children as Football Fans: An Exploratory Study of Team and Player Connections’, 2014; Johansen, ‘Being a Football Kid. Football as a Mediatised Play Practice’.

17. Djohari et al. ‘Recall and Awareness of Gambling Advertising and Sponsorship in Sport in the UK: A Study of Young People and Adults’.

18. AFC Bournemouth – M88, Burnley – Dafabet, Crystal Palace – ManBetx, Everton – SportPesa, Huddersfield Town – OPE Sports, Newcastle United – Fun88, Stoke City Bet365, Swansea City – Letou, West Ham United – Betway.

19. This is taken from the Corinthian seller list and excludes any duplicate holographic cards.

20. https://www.corinthianseller.co.uk/

21. Footy: Issue 14, March 2019; Issue 15, May 2019; Issue 21, January 2020. Match: Issue 19 March 2016–25 2019; Issue 14 May 2023–20 2019; Issue 21 January 2056–27 2020. Kick!: Issue 165, March 2019; Issue 176, January 2020, Kick extra: Issue 42, May 2019; Issue 49, January 2020. Match of the Day: Issue 546, March 2019; Issue 554, May 2019; Issue 587, January 2020.

22. Immediate, ‘Brands Pages’.

23. Players that are rated 100 for one of the key card statistics such as skill.

24. Hörnle and Carran, ‘A Sieve That Does Hold a Little Water – Gambling Advertising and Protection of the Vulnerable in the UK’.

25. Kleinman and Kleinman, ‘The Appeal of Experience; The Dismay of Images: Cultural Appropriations of Suffering in Our Times’; Poole, Vision, Race, and Modernity: A Visual Economy of the Andean Image World.

26. Cassidy and Ovenden, ‘Frequency, Duration and Medium of Advertisements for Gambling and Other Risky Products in Commercial and Public Service Broadcasts of English Premier League Football’, 2017; Sharman ‘Exposure to Gambling and Alcohol Marketing in Soccer Matchday Programmes’.

27. Pitt et al, ‘Factors that influence children’s gambling attitudes and consumption intentions: lessons for gambling harm prevention research, policies and advocacy strategies’.

28. Djohari et al, ‘Recall and Awareness of Gambling Advertising and Sponsorship in Sport in the UK: A Study of Young People and Adults’, 7.

29. Ibid., 8.

30. Cook, ‘Commercial Enculturation: Moving Beyond Consumer Socialization’, 70.

31. Bestman et al, ‘Children’s Implicit Recall of Junk Food, Alcohol and Gambling Sponsorship in Australian Sport’.

32. Djohari et al, ‘Recall and Awareness of Gambling Advertising and Sponsorship in Sport in the UK: A Study of Young People and Adults’; Nyemcsok et al ‘Young People’s Recall and Perceptions of Gambling Advertising and Intentions to Gamble on Sport’; Bestman et al, ‘Children’s Implicit Recall of Junk Food, Alcohol and Gambling Sponsorship in Australian Sport’.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a Research and Enterprise Committee impact grant from Goldsmiths.