Sport enchants and indoctrinates young minds right across the world, Sports Editor Aaron Davoren says the the gambling industry is aware and taking advantage of it
Gambling has always played a role in the history of sports, with historians tracing some form of gambling evidence as far back as 6000BC. Before the twentieth century, betting in the UK and Ireland was widespread, especially in horse racing. However, betting in those times was an informal, illegal practice.
It was Ireland that paved the way with the Betting Act 1926, which legalised cash betting in offices. While it took Britain 34 years after Ireland to establish the Betting and Gaming Act 1960, it was no secret that ordinary people could have been gambling for generations before that point.
From the 1960’s onwards, the normalisation of the “bookie” turned sports betting into a part of the working-class, male social social and ecosystem. Just three years after the Gambling Act was passed in Britain, there were already 14,388 licensed betting offices.
The normalisation and easy availability of the bookie made gambling more and more accessible for people; however, you still had to walk into a bookie.
The last 20 years however, with the introduction of the internet and the smartphone, has seen the proliferation of personal casinos, ready to play from everyone's pocket. You don’t even need to move out of your bed to gamble on sport events thousands and thousands of miles away.
Betting companies have seen a drastic increase in revenue since the popularisation of online sports betting. These companies have realised and tapped into the ease of access and profit potential of the online world of sports betting. They have begun dominating the online and TV advertising industry, sponsoring A-list celebrities and taking a foothold across stadiums and jerseys right across Britain.
A single match between Man City and Wolves in the Premier League last year featured 5,262 exposures of gambling brands across TV, radio and social media alone. Last year, 11 of the 20 Premier League teams last year held a sports betting company as their main front-of-shirt sponsor. Watching the Premier League, it is pretty much impossible not to get bombarded by gambling advertisements.
This is ethically and morally questionable on several fronts. Firstly, the Premier League has advertised itself more and more as a family-friendly entertainment product, moving further and further away from the infamous hooligan activities of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Whilst this is an undeniably positive step, there is something quite hypocritical about promoting gambling sites all around the stadium advertisement boards, shirt sponsors and TV ads to millions of young kids every week, whether it's intentional or not.
Former Brentford player and current England international, Ivan Toney, received an 8-month ban from football in 2023 after admitting to 232 separate violations of betting rules over a multi-year period. The footballer was officially diagnosed with a gambling addiction by Psychiatrist Dr. Philip Hopley. Toney returned to action with Brentford, following his suspension. To paint the picture clearly, this was a man with a diagnosed gambling addiction playing week in, week out with a front-of-shirt betting sponsor and betting advertisement boards surrounding his working environment.
Across North America and worldwide, children have been exposed to sports gambling companies through incidents such as “Rapper Drake live streaming himself making million-dollar bets as part of a partnership with a crypto casino.”
Furthermore, Disney, an ever-present force in wholesome family entertainment, as owner of ESPN, partnered with PENN Entertainment to create ESPN Bet, entering the sports betting market.
Sports gambling addictions can easily ruin individual lives as well as family lives. Recent research from Durham University Business School found that there is often an overlap between gambling and domestic abuse. The study found that abuse related to gambling can take many forms, including physical, emotional, and financial abuse. Financial abuse was particularly common. Some women reported partners stealing money, taking out loans in their name, or building up debt.
We are at the absolute peak of betting advertisements right across sport. The immorality of these institutions, whether intentional or not, is clear to see. Sport enchants and indoctrinates young minds right across the world. The gambling industry is well aware of this, thus hijacking modern sport.