House of Lords committee calls for near-total ban on gambling ads in Britain

A House of Lords committee has urged the UK government to ban almost all gambling advertising, arguing that the current regime is too passive in the face of online promotion. For PSPs, acquirers, and banks active in high-risk verticals, the obvious read-through is simple: advertising restrictions can move from political noise to operating constraint very quickly.

1. The Lords’ committee on communications said the government should introduce a near-total ban on gambling ads to protect public health, following a 173-page report published by the committee and reported by The Guardian.
2. The report criticises the government’s approach to the flow of online gambling advertising as “too passive” and recommends a model similar to tobacco advertising rules, with exceptions for lotteries and racecourses.
3. According to the report’s authors, bookmakers and casinos in the UK generated £12.6 млрд last year, while up to 1.4 million people in Great Britain are said to have a gambling addiction. The report also says advertising spend in the sector reached £2 billion in 2024 under the Gambling Act 2005.
4. The Betting & Gaming Council called the proposal “deeply flawed,” arguing that a ban would only strengthen the illegal market. The committee, in turn, said such concerns should not distract from the harm caused by the legal gambling market.