The visibility of gambling sponsorship in football related products marketed directly to children

Abstract

UK law prohibits direct marketing of gambling to children. However, our data, gathered between 2018 and 2020, demonstrate that gambling logos occur frequently in football related products and media consumed by children. This is a pressing issue for policy makers because research suggests that although children engage with football as spectators, they engage more often through readily available material culture. Discussions in the media about sponsorship of football teams by gambling companies have focused on the exposure of children to advertisements during live broadcasts. Analysing visible gambling sponsorship in children's media, this paper shows how a single gambling logo on a player's shirt is refracted many times through collectable cards, football magazines, and the mediatized 'play' of a child fan's world. It concludes that discussions around gambling advertising and its impact on children should be informed by an awareness of how children, as opposed to adults, engage with football.

Gambling Advertising and Incidental Marketing Exposure in Soccer Matchday Programmes

“…This suggests that whilst the ASA legislation could potentially have had an impact on actual adverts, it has done little to prevent the absolute frequency of exposure to gambling marketing for those who read matchday programmes. It is likely that this finding is generalisable to other forms of exposure to gambling marketing, such as cards, stickers, and magazines, as highlighted by Djohari et al (2021), further normalising gambling within sports culture (McGee, 2020).…”

“…Gambling sponsors on shirts can also expose children to gambling marketing through other media. A recent study by Djohari et al (2021) examined exposure to gambling logos in sticker albums, trading cards and football magazines marketed directly to children. The study reported that gambling logos, primarily through front of shirt sponsorship, were visible in 41% of stickers in the Merlin 2018 Premier League album, and in 42% of stickers in the 2020 Panini Premier League album.…”

Consumer collecting behaviour: A systematic review and future research agenda

“…Examples of these signals include collectors projecting historical knowledge (Baker et al., 2004; Olmsted, 1988), intellectuality (Zolfagharian & Cortes, 2011), nationalistic pride (Bell, 2012, 2013; Zonneveld & Biggemann, 2014), brand loyalty (Butcher et al., 2017; Long & Schiffman, 1997), wealth and social status (Grable & Watkins, 2016; Keinan et al., 2019). Additionally, consumers may collect items as marks of distinction, differentiating tribal alliances that express fandom for music artists (Barrière & Finkel, 2020), football teams (Djohari et al., 2020) and video game franchises (Mora‐Cantallops et al., 2021). Review articles highlighted the role of marketers leveraging this social motivation by facilitating collecting communities for trade and social interaction, including collecting clubs (Baltas & Giakoumaki, 2021; Cheetham, 2009) and conventions (Heljakka, 2018; Olmsted, 1988).…”

“…Often these promotions target children (Lambert & Goh, 2020; Thyne et al., 2019), which raises ethical issues given the somewhat addictive powers that arise through collecting. Additionally, recent studies have investigated consumer collecting behaviour and the potential negatives such as links with gambling (Djohari et al., 2020; Zendle et al., 2021). While set collectibles free with purchase are a long standing marketing practice, such as collecting a set of cards with chocolates in the 1950s (Aramendia‐Muneta, 2020), there has been increased interest in academia and in practice (Thyne et al., 2019) which considers not only the effectiveness of the promotion but also the ethical implications.…”

“…Additionally, consumers may collect items as marks of distinction, differentiating tribal alliances that express fandom for music artists (Barrière & Finkel, 2020), football teams (Djohari et al, 2020) and video game franchises (Mora-Cantallops et al, 2021). Review articles highlighted the role of marketers leveraging this social motivation by facilitating collecting communities for trade and social interaction, including collecting clubs (Baltas & Giakoumaki, 2021;Cheetham, 2009) and conventions (Heljakka, 2018;Olmsted, 1988).…”