How dangerous is rampant soccer betting advertising?

West Ham midfielder Paqueta is currently facing a ban for betting - Photo: REUTERS

In the Premier League, the most watched league in Vietnam, the 2024-25 season will see more than 11 out of 20 clubs partner with betting companies. The total value of shirt sponsorship is 110 million pounds/year, equivalent to 147 million USD (more than 3,800 billion VND).

It is not easy for betting companies to approach big football teams in England and get advertising spots on their shirts, prime positions for brand promotion.

But for the average Premier League club, the handshakes are relatively straightforward. Simply because the bookmakers have too much money.

Betting advertising is rampant.

According to the BBC, in the period from April 2022 to April 2023, the revenue of bookmakers in the UK reached 15.1 billion pounds.

With huge profits, betting companies have a very clear strategy to attract new users through advertising in major football tournaments. They are willing to pay more than double the cost compared to businesses in normal fields.

In 2017, The Guardian reported that betting companies spent £1.5bn on promotional activities to reach users.

Under pressure from regulators, the public promotion of betting companies is actually being restricted. The BBC reports that from the 2026-27 season, Premier League clubs will not be allowed to have shirt sponsorship from betting companies.

However, sponsorship on the neck, sleeves and lapels remains valid. Stadium advertising boards are also still allowed to display betting advertisements. Efforts from the governing bodies have been more about appeasing the problem than tackling it at its root.

In Italy, although the Serie A organizing committee has issued a law banning shirt sponsorship from betting companies since 2019. However, Inter Milan, the biggest team in the tournament, still accepts sponsorship and promotes Betsson Group, an online betting company, on the chest of the shirt.

Inter got around the law by pointing out that the brand on their shirt was just a branch of the parent company's organizational structure. And it was just an entertainment app.

Serie A also accepted this explanation. Now Inter Milan are about to play the Champions League final with the word "bet" on their chest.

Meanwhile, La Liga (Spain) does not completely ban betting. However, they also show efforts to limit the presence of betting companies on jerseys by only allowing them to appear on the sleeves.

But at the start of the 2024-25 season, La Liga signed an international partnership with Luckia, a company with major online betting operations in Spain and Mexico.

Obviously, the huge profits from betting companies make it impossible for most clubs and tournaments to completely refuse cooperation offers, despite the fact that this may directly affect the audience.

Unforeseen consequences

The Guardian reports that a Premier League match can feature betting company logos around 3,500 times, either on shirts or on pitchside advertising boards. This leaves viewers, including children, “inundated” with this content.

Experts warn that this constant exposure can lead children to see betting as a natural part of football culture. And it increases the risk of gambling addiction later in life.

According to The Guardian, a study by GambleAware in the UK found that frequent exposure to betting advertisements can "normalize" gambling behavior, and see it as a harmless recreational activity.

Tonali (right) was banned for 1 year for betting - Photo: REUTERS

This situation in Vietnam is even more serious as smartphones have become an inseparable part of many people, from elementary school students to adults.

Danger! 3 Reasons Online Betting Increases the Risk of Gambling Addiction

With just a few taps, anyone can access online betting sites without any barriers. All the “potential gambler” needs is a hint, which the bookmakers pump into their heads every day through images on football shirts.

The proliferation of betting advertisements on television and even illegal football channels not only increases the risk of gambling addiction, distorts public perception but also directly attracts children into the world of betting. Zoe Osmond, CEO of GambleAware, warned in The Guardian:

“Gambling marketing appeals to children and young people almost four times more than adults, and early exposure – seeing gambling advertising and marketing on TV or social media – may be associated with a higher risk of later gambling harm.”

It should be emphasized that Vietnamese law still strictly prohibits betting and advertising on football betting. However, in reality, preventive activities have not been very effective.

Websites that illegally broadcast football matches and invite people to register for betting still attract millions of viewers. Any attempt to ban them is limited to restricting users’ access to the website link, which is basically useless in the digital age.

Putting the younger generation at risk of getting hooked on gambling at a very early age

The ineffectiveness in preventing these activities not only facilitates illegal activities but also puts the younger generation at risk of being drawn into gambling at a very early age. With their underdeveloped minds, children are easily attracted to attractive images and messages.

GambleAware research shows that children often cannot distinguish between real gambling and games with betting elements or free apps built with similar gambling mechanisms on smartphones.

“Gambling content is now part of many children’s lives. This is worrying, as early exposure to gambling can normalise gambling for children from a young age and lead to problems later in life. Further restrictions on gambling advertising and content are needed to ensure they are not available where children can see them. Urgent action is needed to protect children.”

Early exposure to gambling, which is now commonplace, can have serious consequences. Children may develop the mindset that gambling is a way to make quick money, leading to the risk of gambling addiction in adulthood.

Research in the UK suggests that the number of people suffering harm from problem gambling is eight times higher than previously estimated, affecting 2.5% of adults.

In Vietnam, although there are no official figures, the increase in illegal betting activities shows that the prospect of affected families is still far from over.

Many generations in Vietnam have suffered consequences of an unimaginable scale from betting activities. Every time the World Cup or Euro comes, a football betting network is dismantled with a scale of up to thousands of billions of VND, causing families to break up.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/quang-cao-ca-cuoc-bong-da-tran-lan-nguy-hiem-the-nao-20250523073350524.htm