GambleAware has warned games like McDonald’s Monopoly and Omaze are normalising gambling for children and young people.
The charity said survey findings revealed a link between such prize draws and gambling harms, with data suggesting 27% of people who bet are experiencing a risk of harms from taking part in the games.
Prize draws are not regulated as a licensed form of gambling but GambleAware insisted they had ‘many similarities’ to certain types of online casino betting and some people might not understand the risks associated.
Omaze is a for-profit company that functions as a social impact business by partnering with charities to raise money through prize draws, like winning a house or other large prizes.
The McDonald’s Monopoly game is a sales promotion run by the popular fast food chain with a theme based on the Hasbro board game, where consumers collect stickers from the packaging of selected menu items to win ‘free’ food, cash and other prizes.
GambleAware raised concerns about prize draws as it released its fifth annual Treatment and Support Survey data, which discovered that demand for treatment and support for gambling problems has nearly doubled over the last five years.
YouGov found that almost one in three adults who are experiencing a risk of problems from gambling seek treatment, support or advice, up from one in five in 2020.
There has also been an increase in the proportion of adults who are experiencing problem gambling from use of sports betting apps, up from 2.4% in 2020 to 3.8% in 2024.
Based on the YouGov survey, GambleAware believes around two million children may be living in households with an adult experiencing problem gambling.
Earlier this month it was revealed celebrity gambling advertisements are heavily influencing children to bet – and 87% of young people don’t think they should be exposed to such ads.
GambleAware chief executive Zoe Osmond called for mandatory health warnings on all gambling ads, stricter controls on digital and social media marketing, and a full ban on gambling promotion in stadiums and sports venues to protect children and young people from harm.
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.
