Gambling Act review should bring reform, says survey

A survey conducted on behalf of Gambling With Lives found that 66.9% of participants believe the much-anticipated Gambling Act review is an opportunity to reform gambling in the UK.

Collectively, 1,009 people were surveyed, who were all based in the UK. The survey took place between 29 March and 2 April. It was compiled by research company Survation.

Conversely, 16.1% of participants said the Gambling Act review white paper should not be viewed as an opportunity to reform gambling in the UK. Similarly, 16.9% said they did not know.

Of the total participants, 41.7% did not believe that young people in the UK are adequately protected from gambling harms. In all 421 participants disagreed, compared to 25.5% of those who agreed.

A total of 685 people agreed with the statement “Nobody under the age of 18 should be exposed to gambling advertising”, which was 67.8% of the total participants. Just 95 people disagreed – 9.4% of the participants.

Last week, Premier League teams announced that they would ban front-of-shirt advertising from the end of the 2025-26 season.

Forthcoming review

Results were similar in response to the statement “There should be limits on how much money consumers can deposit into online gambling accounts”, where 66.4% of participants agreed and 10.8% disagreed. Deposit limits have long been rumoured to be part of the much-anticipated white paper.

Another measure expected to be included is affordability checks. These checks have been resisted in the industry, with criticism from both operators and punters.

However, when confronted with the statement “There should be limits on how much money can be staked on any single bet online”, 66.4% of participants agreed, while just 10.8% disagreed.

The statement “To protect consumers, there should be affordability checks for those who want to bet more than £100 a month” produced a similar outcome. A comparable 64.1% of participants agreed, while 10.6% disagreed.

Original Article