UK punters on board with live sports betting ad ban

Attitudes towards the UK gambling business, especially the sports betting side of the business, have been changing quite a bit over the past few years. Operators in that part of the world are dealing with a rapidly changing regulatory environment that, it seems, has tremendous support from the general public.
Between Parliament’s efforts to increase taxes and lower maximum stakes on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs); and the industry’s impending, self-imposed restrictions on live sports betting ad and commentary, you’d think the citizens of the United Kingdom didn’t like gambling at all. If the results of a new survey by Harris Interactive titled, Live Sports Broadcasting Gambling Advertising Ban, that statement is starting to look more like reality every day.
According to the survey, which was conducted this year and queried 963 people, a full 18 percent of respondents said that the proposed live betting ad ban would stop them from placing wagers on live sporting events. That’s a big number for the already battered UK gaming industry to absorb. But the bad news doesn’t stop there.
The survey also found that a whopping 81 percent of respondents were in favor of the ban on live sports betting advertisements. That number goes down to 66 percent when narrowed to respondents who actually wager on sports and is still a pretty shocking number.
It seems as though UK operators are beginning to realize that carpeting live sporting events with gambling ads, made to look like sports broadcasts, are not as effective a marketing tool as they might have once thought.