The ban on gambling advertisements during live televised sports has come into effect.
Under the ban, gambling ads have been banned from being shown during live sport shown on television before the 9 PM watershed between five minutes before the start of the match and five minutes after the end of the match. However, horse and greyhound gambling have been exempt from the ban.
The ban was originally planned to come into effect alongside the start of the football season next week but it launched this week to coincide with the Ashes cricket series between England and Australia.
It was announced last year following concern over the mounting number of gambling advertisements shown on television, which has been shown to impact both children and vulnerable persons.
However, the advertisement ban does not include advertisements displayed around football stadiums or football shirt sponsorships, suggesting that gambling firms will still appear during live sports.
According to reports, the ban will reduce the number of gambling advertisements seen on television, coming 12 years after the Gambling Act 2005 allowed gambling sites to advertise on television for the first time ever.
The news comes just weeks after bookmaker Paddy Power announced its Save Our Shirts campaign which calls for an end to football shirt sponsorships. As part of the campaign, Paddy Power sponsors football teams but relinquishes space on the football kits.
The firm has called on other sports betting sites to follow in their steps and, at the time of writing, has announced five football clubs as part of the campaign.
Meanwhile, the UK Gambling Commission and the UK Government have continued their crackdown on the gambling industry. Earlier this month, the firm announced a 12-week consultation on credit card use, looking to ban gamblers from using their credit cards.
The Commission was also made to reinstate its commitment to reducing gambling harm after a new report highlighted the link between problem gambling and suicide. It revealed that around 5% of problem gamblers had attempted suicide.
Lastly, several bookmakers have revealed that sales at betting shops across the UK have dropped significantly after the UK Government implemented a betting limit on Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs).
