The rapid assessment, carried out by the University of Bristol in collaboration with Channel 5 last month, monitored live televised coverage, sports news programming, sports news radio, and social media over the weekend of 11-14 August.   

Key headline findings were:

• A total of 10,999 gambling messages were identified during the weekend across various media channels.
• 6,966 gambling messages were recorded during the six live match broadcasts.
• 92% out of 391 content marketing ads sent by major gambling brands, were not clearly identifiable as advertising – and therefore breaching a key advertising regulation.
• Less than a quarter (20.6%) included gambling harm reduction messages and only 18.7% featured age warnings - leaving the majority without any warnings. 
• There was at least one gambling ad during any commercial break on TalkSport Radio and 600 gambling messages during two hours of Sky Sports News.
• 1,902 gambling ads on social media, generating a total of 34 million impressions (the number of times an advert was seen). 

"Our study highlights a serious issue with social media gambling marketing - especially content marketing. A staggering 92% of content marketing ads are not clearly identifiable as advertising, breaching key advertising regulations. We urgently need to strengthen those regulations to protect consumers – in particular children, who are especially vulnerable to sneaky advertising." 

Read the full University of Bristol news item

This research, conducted in partnership with 5 News, aired in a special report on Tuesday 19 September at 5pm on Channel 5, available after broadcast here.