Television has grown into an important advertising medium for UK-facing gambling operators, as figures posted earlier this year indicated. Although many believe that the television era is drawing toward a conclusion giving room to the Internet and other, more innovative channels, facts and figures still show otherwise.
Investment in clever, mischievous, and sometimes scandalous gambling commercials has increased over the past several years, as reported by The Guardian. The newspaper commissioned a study into the amounts spent on gambling TV ads between 2012 and 2015. Measurement firm Nielsen compiled the report.
Nielsen found out that gambling companies had spent a total of £456 million during the above-mentioned period to promote their offering on television. In 2015 only, companies invested £118.5 million in producing TV spots. The figure reported by Nielsen represented a 46% increase from 2012 when the amount of £81.2 million was posted. In other words, operators’ TV marketing costs more than doubled during the reviewed period.
Why investment in TV gambling advertising has increased so substantially? It could not be said with complete certainty what has been urging operators to spend so much but there are two very possible reasons. In the first place, the UK gambling industry has been on the rise and is expected to grow even further in future. In the second place, television is basically the most popular advertising medium in the UK.
UK’s Well-Performing-Solidly-Growing Gambling Market
The UK gambling market is among the largest in the world. The country is the birthplace of some of the major sports betting and gaming operators, which means that gambling is an activity well-recognized by locals. Although it could not be said with an exact precision, the number of UK residents who place their 5-10-15-pound bet every once in a while is probably very big and growing.
According to the most recent report published by the UK Gambling Commission, the amount of £13.6 billion was estimated to have been generated between April 2015 and March 2016 in gross gambling yield, up from £11.2 billion for the period between April 2014 and March 2015.
Bearing these figures in mind, it could be seen that gambling is on the rise. With that comes competition. The UK market has become a highly competitive space and operators have to brainstorm regularly in order to survive. Advertising has long been one of the best means for the creation of brand awareness among customers. This is why marketing efforts and their becoming larger-scaled should not come as a surprise.
Television as the Preferred Advertising Medium
According to a report by Thinkbox, the UK’s commercial TV marketing body, television advertising revenue amounted to £5.3 billion in 2015, up 7.4% year-on-year. It is also important to note that 2015 was the sixth consecutive year of revenue growth. In other words, increased advertising investment is a general trend in the UK and is not just limited to gambling.
It has been understood from a separate report by Nielsen that the continued growth could to a great extent be attributed to increased investment in the major marketing categories and to a boost from online companies.
Using the above information for the purposes of this article, it could be suggested that companies with online gambling operations may have ramped up investment in television advertising to further enhance their growth, despite having online as a channel to their avail. Mind that this is only a suggestion, but one that may be very possible within the context of the topic discussed.
A Possible Crackdown?
Gambling operators are spending boldly on TV advertising and seem to be ready to ramp up costs, if that means that their products will be preferred by a wider customer base. However, they may soon face a serious regulatory challenge. The UK Government is currently busy with its triennial industry review that is primarily concerned with the fixed-odds betting terminals, with those long being scolded upon by officials and responsible gambling organisations.
However, it has become known that gambling advertising, particularly the way gambling products are promoted on television, has also appeared on the government’s radar.
Under current laws, gambling ads can appear on television only after the 9 pm watershed or during sports events. Recent reports showed that the number of gambling addicts among UK residents has increased considerably and that the number of those aged 18-24 to be showing symptoms of problem gambling has also went up. With that concerning information in mind, organisations and top country officials have argued that more stringent measures should be introduced in regard to how gambling is advertised.
It is yet to become clear whether there would be any ban or restriction on TV advertising. Updates and potential new regulations may be introduced sometime in the first quarter of 2017, according to people with knowledge of the matter. However, a full ban is not likely to be imposed, given TV advertising’s influence and the fact that both operators and major TV networks will strongly oppose such a ban.
- Author
Daniel Williams
