The Betting and Gaming Council has pushed back against a UK House of Lords Liaison Committee recommendation to impose a full ban on gambling advertising. BGC chief executive Grainne Hurst called the committee's report 'deeply misguided' and said the measure would weaken player protection rather than strengthen it.
Hurst pointed to existing strict rules governing gambling ads in Britain, designed to protect minors and vulnerable groups. BGC members have gone further, introducing a whistle-to-whistle ban on advertising during live sports broadcasts and additional restrictions on digital marketing.
The report's treatment of the illegal market raised particular concern. 'Most worrying is the committee's willingness to ignore the fast-growing threat from the criminal gambling market simply because it does not fit their conclusions,' Hurst said. The ability to advertise is one of the key differences between licensed operators and illegal sites. Legal businesses conduct age verification, offer self-exclusion, deploy responsible gambling tools, pay taxes and fund treatment and British sport. Illegal operators do none of this.
The BGC cited experience from other jurisdictions. Italy introduced an almost total ad ban several years ago but still faces a significant black market. In the Netherlands, where advertising restrictions were tightened sharply, the regulator warned against a total ban and noted that only around half of gambling spend goes to licensed operators.
'This is not an argument against strict advertising rules. It is an argument for proportionate, evidence-based regulation that recognises the fundamental difference between businesses in one of the most tightly controlled sectors of the economy and illegal operators who ignore every rule,' Hurst said. A full ban would strip the licence of its competitive advantage but would not stop illegal operators from serving British players.
