Gambling Ads Inundate NHL Viewers Every 13 Seconds
Hockey fans watching this year’s Stanley Cup finals were exposed to a relentless stream of gambling advertisements, with marketing messages appearing as often as every 13 seconds during the most saturated broadcasts, according to a new study shared with The Guardian. The research, conducted by the University of Bristol, quantifies the scale of the marketing blitz that has followed the legalization of sports betting, raising alarms among public health advocates and some lawmakers.
A Tale of Two Leagues
The study analyzed all 13 championship games from this year’s NHL and NBA finals. The disparity between the two was dramatic.
- Across the six Stanley Cup finals games, researchers recorded an average of 3.5 gambling-related marketing messages per minute.
- In contrast, the seven NBA finals games featured an average of just 0.26 gambling references per minute.
In total, the study documented 6,282 instances of gambling marketing, with a staggering 94% of them occurring during the NHL broadcasts. The most common form of advertising was not traditional commercials but in-stadium visuals, such as logos on rinkside boards and jersey patches, which provide brands with “persistent exposure” throughout the game.
The Post-2018 Advertising Boom
This advertising saturation is a direct result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision to overturn the federal ban on sports betting. In the years since, the industry has exploded, with online betting companies spending billions on advertising to capture market share.
This has led to a complete reversal in the relationship between sports leagues and the gambling industry. “Before 2018, most sports organizations wanted nothing to do with gambling,” Stephen Shapiro, a sports management professor at the University of South Carolina, told The Guardian. Now, he explained, partnerships between leagues, teams, and betting companies have made the activity “a more acceptable and supported activity.”
A Growing Public Health Concern
This non-stop marketing has alarmed public health advocates and some lawmakers, who worry about the impact on vulnerable populations.
“The constant barrage of marketing is especially dangerous for young and vulnerable groups and opens the doors for a new generation of potential gamblers to engage with this known, addictive product,” Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko told The Guardian.
These concerns are supported by recent data from the National Council on Problem Gambling. A July survey found that while the spike in risky gambling seen during the pandemic has eased, gambling-related harm “remains widespread, particularly among younger adults, sports bettors, and those who gamble online.” The survey estimated that nearly 20 million U.S. adults reported experiencing at least one problematic gambling behavior “many times” in the past year.
The Industry’s Defense and an Uncertain Future
The gambling industry has pushed back against the criticism. Joe Maloney, a spokesperson for the American Gaming Association, pointed to research showing that sports betting ads made up just 0.4% of total U.S. TV advertising in 2024.
In response to the marketing blitz, the study’s researchers recommend federal legislation to regulate gambling advertising in sports. Rep. Tonko has introduced the “Safe Bet Act” in Congress, which aims to establish baseline consumer protection standards.
However, the path to federal regulation faces significant hurdles. John Fortunato, a professor at Fordham University specializing in sports media, told The Guardian that he doesn’t expect to see advertising curtailed anytime soon.
“That kind of regulation would have to happen through legislation,” he said, “and all these state governments like the tax revenue that they’re getting.”
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