Celebrity gambling advertisements are heavily influencing children to bet, a GambleAware study has found.
A quarter of the children surveyed said they had been tempted to spend money on sports betting apps after seeing celebrity endorsements and GambleAware has called for urgent action,.
Young people in Britain are being exposed to ‘unprecedented levels’ of gambling content according to the study commissioned by Social Finance and Sherbert Research.
One study recorded data from 634 youngsters across multiple schools based in the South West, South East and West Midlands of England while the second took results from 2,100 11-17 year olds.
87% Of Children Believe They Shouldn’t Be Exposed To Gambling Ads
25% of children in the second survey admitted they had been tempted to spend money gambling after watching ads and 36% of boys aged between 16 and 17 said they had already gambled after seeing a celebrity promoting or taking part in betting.
More than 50% of those surveyed in the second set of results felt they had no control over the level of gambling content they viewed online – and 78% of children agreed that no one under the age of 18 should be exposed to gambling advertisement.
87% had viewed gambling content on the internet and 16% picked up on it from content creators on platforms like Twitch, TikTok and YouTube.
67% Of Children Think Celebrity, Influencer Gambling Ads Should Be Banned
Celebrities and influencers promoting UK betting sites should be outlawed according to 67% of respondents. 16% had seen content creators sharing links and sign-up codes for gambling and 14% had viewed creators sharing tips on how to bet.
GambleAware wants the government to further restrict gambling advertisement online in the short term to give time for wider regulations to be implemented.
The company’s CEO Zoe Osmond said: “It is unacceptable that children’s environments continue to be flooded with age-restricted content.
“Consistent exposure to influencer-driven gambling content contributes to the normalisation of gambling among school-aged children and we know that early exposure to gambling at a younger age can lead young people to have a higher risk of experiencing gambling harm later in life.”
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
