APPG backs fresh push to remove gambling ads from football in UK

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Gambling Reform has backed a new petition to 10 Downing Street calling for gambling advertising to be removed from football. For high-risk operators, the point is not the optics — it is the direction of travel: more pressure in Parliament for tighter rules on marketing, sponsorship and child exposure.

1. On Wednesday, the APPG held multiple meetings with MPs, peers, academics and campaigners to discuss fresh evidence and possible policy measures on gambling advertising. Representatives from the Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA) and Clean Up Gambling were joined by former football professionals and active campaigners who have been pushing for stricter restrictions for some time.
2. After the event, the APPG publicly endorsed CEGA’s petition to 10 Downing Street, which urges the government to remove gambling advertising from football altogether. The petition frames the issue around protecting young football fans from betting imagery and sponsorship during matches.
3. The parliamentary push comes as the House of Lords Liaison Committee has published a report recommending a comprehensive ban on all gambling advertising. The committee said there is now robust evidence linking gambling advertising to increased participation and related harms, with sports sponsorship and advertising singled out because voluntary industry efforts have not reduced exposure.
4. In the report, Dr Matt Gaskell MBE said that “overall exposure (including shirts, hoardings, logos, sponsorship and related marketing) during live sports programmes does not show that self-regulation has reduced exposure meaningfully”. That matters for PSPs and acquiring teams because it points to a policy debate moving beyond surface-level marketing limits and toward a full ban.
5. Earlier this year, the APPG and Peers for Gambling Reform published their own report calling for a pre-9pm watershed ban on gambling advertisements and a ban on sporting sponsorships. In the parliamentary debate that followed, Labour MP Alex Ballinger cited research showing thousands of gambling-related messages during a single Premier League weekend, while Conservative MP Charlie Dewhirst warned that harsh restrictions could push customers toward unlicensed overseas operators and widen the black market.