Members of the House of Lords are calling for a full scale ban on gambling advertising across the UK in the latest political push against the sector.
It comes just days after the Local Health and Global Profits (LHGP) research consortium made the same pleas as the UK public continues to show concern around the promotion of the gambling sector.
UK to follow Dutch and Australian gambling ad bans?
The House of Lords Liaison Committee has leant on the moves against gambling advertising in “several other jurisdictions” – moves it argues have left the UK behind as a “comparative outlier”.
For example, the Netherlands recently introduced plans for a blanket ban on gambling advertising, while in Australia, a jurisdiction where politicians have been under major pressure to implement reforms, gambling adverts have now been limited to three-per-hour.
Lords, led by the Chair of Peers for Gambling Reform (PGR), Lord Foster of Bath, wants to see advertising return to a status where it was “restricted on the basis that gambling should be tolerated but not stimulated”.
“Up to a million and a half people in Britain experience problem gambling and the serious consequences this has on them, their families and the wider community,” Lord Foster said.
“A ban on most gambling advertising would reduce gambling and therefore reduce problem gambling and the serious harm it causes.
“We are clear that this would shrink, rather than grow, the gambling sector and that this would make a positive difference to millions of people across the country.”
The Committee is effectively calling for a reversal of some key terms of the 2005 Gambling Act. Prior to the Act, only bingo, football pools, the National Lottery, and social lotteries were able to advertise on TV and radio.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been consulting on banning unlicensed sponsors for much of the year in a bid to clampdown on illegal and unlicensed gambling activity.
Although Lords does seem to at least address concerns regarding the illegal gambling market, it does not feel that these should completely eliminate licensed operators from being further restricted.
“The Committee recognises that stronger action is needed to tackle unregulated gambling, but was unconvinced by claims that restrictions on advertising by licensed operators will lead to displacement of customers to the illegal market,” the Committee said.
“Concerns over the illegal market must therefore not be a barrier to addressing the clear harms generated by the licensed sector.”
Betting industry faces tax and advertising clampdowns
The calls also come with the backdrop of a rumoured increase in Machine Gaming Duty (MGD) ahead of Chancellor John Healey’s Autumn Budget.
Operators in the UK could well be facing even stringent regulation should this increase be put in place, which would follow a rise in Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) from 21% to 40% and an impending increase in General Betting Duty (GBD) from 15% to 25%.
This has already impacted the margins of businesses, giving them less marketing spend which in turn could inadvertently push consumers towards the black market.
A complete advertising ban would not only have a negative impact on the bottom lines of businesses in a variety of sectors, but would also close the gap in the visibility of licensed and unlicensed operators as the proliferation of black market bookmakers continues to plague social media.
The regulated industry has placed the black market at the centre of its campaign and communications strategy for several years now, including during the three-year-long review of the 2005 Gambling Act and during last year’s tax debates.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) reiterated this stance this week, claiming that around £8m will be staked with illegal betting operators during this week’s 250th anniversary of the St Leger at Doncaster Racecourse.
“Millions of pounds are expected to be staked with illegal operators across the St Leger meeting, with those businesses contributing nothing to racing, paying no UK tax and offering customers none of the protections that exist in the regulated market,” said Grainne Hurst, Chief Executive Officer of the BGC.
Will DCMS change its tune?
The big question now is, will the government act on this? DCMS hasn’t shown a great deal of enthusiasm for curbing advertising by legal gambling firms, but Prime Minister Andy Burnham is a notable critic of the sector, particularly its high-street presence.
Baroness Twycross, former Gambling Minister at the DCMS, is quoted by the Lords report as saying that the government’s intention is “to act in the public interest to tackle gambling harm and work with the regulated sector to make it as safe as possible”.
The former Minister, and sitting House of Lords member, also noted that the general public likely “would like to have less advertising” but added that “I am not sure that is really my role as a Minister to do just what the public thinks”.
Twycross’ opinion is now a little obsolete, as under Burnham she has been replaced by Vicky Foxcroft, who took on political authority for gambling in her role as DCMS Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.
As Foxcroft is a Burnham appointee, it could be expected that she will share his lack of enthusiasm for the gambling sector. However, DCMS’ cap covers a number of other duties, including sports, digital media, and online market industries.
All of these would be affected by a gambling advertising ban. The EFL is a long-time partner of Sky Bet, for example, and countless Championship clubs count betting partnerships as important commercial deals.
Losing these deals would land a heavy blow on football, particularly the lower leagues. This same impact would be felt across countless other British sports – rugby league, snooker, darts, boxing, the list goes on.
Lord Foster of Bath and others aren’t sold, however, and believe the opposite could be true.
Lord Foster cites Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research estimates that a 10% reduction in consumer gambling spend leading to a gross value added (GVA) increase of £1.25bn and creating 22,000 jobs.
Regardless, the feasibility of such a crackdown, and DCMS enthusiasm for it, becomes less likely the more one looks at the bigger picture and what it could mean for sectors beyond gambling, and the wider UK economy.
But the lobbying is the latest in a series of attempts from organisations to crack down, or even eliminate, the presence of gambling in the UK, and will not be welcomed by licensed operators on these shores.
Article co-authored by Ted Orme-Claye and Patrick Killeen.