A Member of Parliament known as an anti-gambling campaigner has called for the British free-to-air television channel ITV to stop displaying gambling adverts during the European football championship in June.
Ronnie Cowan, who is a vice-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling-related harm in the House of Commons, explained that some changes had to be made. He further shared that the situation has to be brought to a stage where gambling was not promoted but only tolerated.
Mr Cowan expressed his support for anti-gambling campaigners, who suffered a loss of family members and friends to suicides as a result of gambling, and who have been calling for the authorities and local broadcasting groups to be more proactive in making a move to improve the situation. The supporters of The Big Step campaign are set to participate in an initiative that aims at raising people’s awareness of the negative effects that gambling could have on their lives. The initiative – a walk from Gretna to Wembley – is set to be held at the time of the official start of the European football championship in June.
According to estimates, at least 650 people take their own lives in the UK each year as a result of gambling, and there are more than one million people who suffer from problem gambling behaviour. British gamblers placed a total of £2.3 billion in bets during the 2018 World Cup. In comparison, the amount placed as bets during the same tournament in 2014 was twice as small. At the time of the 2018 World Cup, there were 172 gambling-related ads aired on ITV alone.
Increased Gambling Advertising Has Devastating Effect on Young People and Problem Gamblers
According to Cowan MP, the European Championships should be all about football but, unfortunately, it was literally impossible for British viewers to watch the game without being exposed to gambling adverts. He further noted that gambling-related ads could have an extremely negative effect on vulnerable and young people, so everyone linked to the sector should take steps in order to reduce the possible negative effect that gambling could have on people’s lives.
The Member of Parliament said he feared that the exposure to gambling adverts during the upcoming football Championship would only boost the number of people suffering from harm associated with gambling. This is exactly why Mr Cowan backed a suspension of gambling ads on ITV during the Championship and raised a red flag that British children are exposed to such advertising materials on a daily basis, which makes gambling look normal to them.
About a week ago, a report issued by the House of Lords stated that the gambling habits of local people cost the public up to £1.2 billion on an annual basis in areas such as joblessness, crime and addiction treatment. For the time being, there are about 400,000 problem gamblers in the UK, while at least 2.4 million people are affected by the gambling addiction of someone else.
As Casino Guardian previously reported, local broadcasting groups have already been urged to ban all gambling ads during the European Championship to help the Government and regulatory bodies better protect customers at risk of suffering from gambling-related harm. Earlier in May, a group of 60 problem gamblers, clinicians and Members of Parliament sent an open letter to local broadcasters, including ITV, BT Sport, Sky Sports and Talksport, claiming there is strong evidence that gambling ads affect the chance for people placing bets.
- Author
Daniel Williams
