Gambling revenue the next big media addiction?

22 September 2026

UK government considers curbs as betting ads cause spending habits

Media groups are facing renewed scrutiny though their dependency on gambling money is now being treated as both a commercial dependency and a policy problem.

The Lords’ near-total ban proposal, which would place gambling ads under statutory control by the Gambling Commission, has intensified pressure on media owners, broadcasters, sports clubs and agencies that rely on the previously lucrative category for revenue. The campaign is part of a broader public-health push framed around protecting vulnerable consumers.

"If consumer protection is not effectively addressed, the risk of regulated gambling products leading to significant public-health problems is high," the Lords said in their report.

Annual gambling advertising expenditure in the UK has grown to between £1bn and £2bn, the committee identified upfront. That spending is concentrated in a small number of media: Sports broadcasting and sponsorship deals, mainly in football. Some national newspapers, such as the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror; and some radio channels, including BBC in its national networks.

Gambling also constitutes a growing wedge of Australian media companies' revenue. An Australian parliamentary report estimated gambling ads grew 13% a year from $53m in 2007 to around $300m in 2022, most of it on free-to-air TV.

The Lords described all of this as providing "the critical impulse to gamble" as well as "reinforcing the impression that gambling is a normal, acceptable and tempting pastime". Sports sponsorship arrangements, free-incentives such as sign-up bonuses, direct marketing, and influencer promotions are particularly in the committee's sights.

A UK Guardian report underscored how much the debate intersects with media business.

Nearly half of Premier League football teams are linked to unlicensed or offshore gambling operators, a report for the Guardian by the anti-gambling safety charity Gamban has found. The links have increased in the past three months, with an additional four clubs finding sponsors with apparently legal problems.

The agency ranking website AgencyRank UK went further, arguing gambling-only agencies were the largest trade partners of the telegraph and FT. In agencies with 30% or more of billings derived from gambling, a ban would become a structural issue increasing their vulnerability, AgencyRank reported.

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Such companies' exposure to the gambling category may bring financial vulnerability to media, but political and reputation damage are also possible. The Guardian, as well as its Sunday sister publication, the Observer, and global news magazine, Guardian Weekly, last year banned gambling advertising. Beneath the Guardian’s noble banner hung a material impact: Gambling ads make up less than 1% of the Guardian's revenue but global gambling-ad revenue had ranged between £250,000 to around £500,000 in recent periods.

Yet, The Guardian’s agency ranking puts it in the same bracket as papers that depend more heavily on gambling money. According to AgencyRank, most gambling spending goes to media companies ranked below third by percentage of gambling revenue (after the Mail and Mirror). But, paid-for gambling coverage is relatively recent in The Guardian than in some of the bigger-seeming offenders.

The largest current UK online gambling outlets, 888, Betway, and Betfair were all founded in the 2000s.

Nine Entertainment, an Australian broadcaster, will reportedly seek compensation if gambling ads are banned from its stations and websites. Similar arguments from broadcasters were reported in Australia and may foreshadow a push for compensation from UK media groups as well.

Gambling’s=None of the larger UK media groups announced a move similar to The Guardian’s.

In Australia, media and government recognising the gambling industry’s financial power. However, NRL advocates have called for a complete ban on gambling advertising, with discussion on levying the gambling industry to help local media. The proposal comes with a permanent ban on gambling ads for sports news channels and matches that attract an under-18 audience, along with crisis treatment funding.

Cricket Australia has also banned on-air betting advertisements and incentives during presentation changes.