Hockey fans are bombarded with gambling logos and adverts – sometimes as often as every 13 seconds – during TV coverage of high-profile games, according to exclusive research shared with the Guardian.
Viewers of June’s Stanley Cup finals encountered an average of 3.5 marketing messages from betting firms every minute, a new study by the University of Bristol found.
Since the supreme court overturned a federal ban on sports betting in 2018, the US gambling industry has surged. Today, sports betting is legal in 39 states and Washington DC – and online betting companies have spent billions of dollars in a bid to attract users in an increasingly competitive market.
As they invest heavily in ads, billboards and sponsorship deals, industry operators stand accused by critics of transforming high-profile sports games into a “second-by-second gambling opportunity”.
Paul Tonko, a Democratic congressman, told the Guardian: “The constant barrage of marketing is especially dangerous for young and vulnerable groups and opens the doors for a new generation of potential gamblers to engage with this known, addictive product.”
The study by researchers at the University of Bristol analyzed gambling marketing during six NHL finals games this year between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, and seven NBA finals games between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Across those 13 games, researchers recorded 6,282 instances of gambling-related marketing. This included gambling company logos on jerseys, rinkside and courtside ads, in-game mentions and commercials. Notably 94% of the instances were recorded during the NHL broadcasts.
The report found that, on average, gambling logos and ads were shown 3.5 times per minute during the NHL games, with the most saturated game featuring 4.7 gambling-related marketing instances per minute – equating to one every 13 seconds.
In contrast, the NBA broadcasts averaged just 0.26 gambling references per minute. This disparity may be partly due to the NBA’s growing use of platforms like YouTube, which imposes stricter limits on gambling ads, the researchers noted.
The academics reviewed each broadcast as well as the pre-game coverage. The study found that the most common formats for gambling messaging were in-stadium visuals, which appeared on rinkside boards, electronic boards, jersey patches, and other static structures.
This type of advertising, they noted, gives brands “persistent exposure” throughout the game. Logo placement was the most prevalent type of advertising during the games. Commercials were less frequent but still contributed to the overall volume.
Calls for a crackdown
Things have changed dramatically in just seven years since the supreme court decision. Before 2018, “most sports organizations wanted nothing to do with gambling”, Stephen Shapiro, a sports management professor at the University of South Carolina, told the Guardian.
But now, he said: “You can see it in terms of partnerships between leagues and teams and sport gambling entities, and athlete marketing being part of the marketing efforts, and that really has kind of torn down that barrier that existed there in terms of public perception, to make it a more acceptable and supported activity.”
In-game advertising has long been an effective strategy across industries, and is especially valuable for sports betting companies, Shapiro noted, as viewers can place bets in real time during the entirety of the live event. Even subtle ad placements, such as logos on jerseys or around the stadium, can help build a brand’s credibility, he added.
In the UK, a similar study conducted by psychology experts at four UK universities in 2023 found that betting logos appeared as many as 3,500 times during the course of a televised premier league football match, most commonly on pitchside hoardings.
“When you think about it, in just about any other form of media content, we either pay to not have commercials, or we do our best to try to skip commercials,” said Andrew Billings, director of the University of Alabama’s sports communication program. But with sports, he added, you can count on most of the audience “seeing that advertisement because they are tuned into the live game”.
In this new study, the researchers recommend that the US introduce federal legislation to regulate gambling marketing in sports, including defining how it can appear and potentially limiting the volume of gambling messages allowed per broadcast.
Billings said he believes the US may need “both national legalization and then consistent regulation to try to combat what seems to be the early signs of escalating sports gambling addiction”.
The Responsible Online Gaming Association, the NHL and the NBA did not respond to requests for comment.
Joe Maloney, the spokesperson for the American Gaming Association, a lobby group for the gambling industry, said: “If UK professors are interested in the robust AGA member company commitments to responsible advertising, they’re welcome to engage with us directly in lieu of their now annual and predictable leaks to UK-based media outlets.”
Maloney pointed to AGA research released earlier this year showing that sports betting comprised just 0.4% of total US TV advertising in 2024, less than alcohol and pharmaceuticals.
A July survey from the National Council on Problem Gambling found that, while the spike in risky gambling behavior observed during the Covid-19 pandemic has eased, gambling-related harm “remains widespread, particularly among younger adults, sports bettors, and those who gamble online”.
Nearly 20 million US adults reported experiencing at least one problematic gambling behavior “many times” in the past year, per the survey.
Over the years, numerous studies conducted in various countries have drawn links between exposure to gambling ads and increased participation in gambling, particularly among vulnerable populations.
Representative Tonko has introduced the Safe Bet Act in Congress, which he said would “establish baseline standards” protecting consumers and public health. “Now more than ever, we need a strong, public health centered approach to this growing crisis,” he said.
But John Fortunato, a professor at Fordham University who specializes in sports media, doesn’t expect to see gambling advertising curtailed any time soon. That kind of regulation, he said, would currently “have to happen through legislation and all these state governments like the tax revenue that they’re getting”.
“Everyone’s sort of making money off of it,” Fortunato added.
