The House of Lords Liaison Committee has recommended a comprehensive ban on gambling advertising in Great Britain, six years after a previous committee called for a public health approach to gambling-related harm.
The cross-party committee said a comprehensive ban represented its preferred long-term policy option, while proposing targeted restrictions if the Government does not pursue a full prohibition.
These include bans on direct marketing and content marketing, alongside tighter controls covering social media, inducements and gambling sponsorship in sport.
The recommendations would also prohibit gambling branding on sports kits, training kits and around sporting venues. Horseracing and greyhound racing would retain exemptions for on-course advertising, while the Government would be asked to assess whether lottery advertising should fall within a wider ban.
The report comes as Great Britain continues to operate under advertising rules administered through the CAP and BCAP codes, backed by Gambling Commission licence requirements.
Gambling advertising cannot be directed at under-18s or contain material likely to have strong appeal to children or young people. CAP strengthened its guidance in 2025 and began targeted enforcement against non-compliant social media advertising in June 2026.
The committee's intervention goes beyond the Government's position earlier this year. In June, the Government said it had no plans to impose further limits on gambling advertising, while pointing to the statutory gambling levy and further research into the relationship between advertising and harm.
The Gambling Survey for Great Britain 2025 estimated that 2.4% of adults scored eight or above on the Problem Gambling Severity Index, equivalent to around 1.3 million people, with a confidence interval of 1.0 to 1.5 million. Around 31 million adults gambled during the previous 12 months.
The Lords report also said gambling operators spend more than £1bn ($1.34bn) annually on advertising and argued that lower gambling expenditure could benefit other areas of the economy.
University of Sheffield research estimated that a 10% reduction in gambling spending could increase economic output by £1.25bn and support more than 22,000 jobs.
Industry body the Betting and Gaming Council has opposed wider advertising restrictions, arguing that reducing the visibility of licensed operators could make unlicensed alternatives relatively more prominent.
The committee said it had not received clear evidence that advertising restrictions would cause significant displacement towards the illegal market.
Gambling advertising restrictions have also expanded elsewhere in Europe. Google will tighten its policy in Croatia from 7 October, preventing affiliates and media platforms from promoting online gambling while licensed operators remain permitted to advertise under domestic restrictions.
The statutory gambling levy introduced following the 2023 White Paper raised just under £120m in its first year for research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm
