World Cup showed 1.5 gambling or predictions ads per minute
A report by the Universities of Bristol and Oxford has highlighted the prolifer
The FIFA World Cup 2026 exposed viewers to 1.5 gambling and prediction market logos, on average, during each minute of live play.
A collaborative study between the University of Bristol and the University of Oxford has used an AI model to index the broadcasts of all 104 games in the tournament, in order to quantify the level of advertising of ‘harmful commodities’.
In this case, ‘harmful commodities’ included alcohol, gambling and junk food, and the study concentrated on those promotional materials visible while matches were actually being played, rather than during ad breaks or studio punditry.
Dr Raffaello Rossi, a senior lecturer in marketing and the co-director of the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, co-authored the study and was also one of those who gave evidence to the House of Lords Liaison Committee that last week recommended the UK government implement a total ban on gambling advertising.
On the World Cup, he commented: “As one of the world’s most watched sporting events, reaching billions of people, this year’s FIFA World Cup provided an unparalleled platform for advertising. Our findings reveal the sheer scale of branding embedded throughout tournament broadcasts, making exposure to unhealthy food, alcohol and gambling brands both omnipresent and unavoidable for viewers.”
Alex Ballinger MP, co-chair of the Gambling Reform APPG and a proponent of a new gambling act in the UK, added: “As this study makes clear, our current rules and safeguards are inadequate. Urgent reform is needed to protect young and vulnerable fans and preserve the beautiful game.”
The breakdown
While gambling advertising often grabs headlines, the study showed that junk food was by far the most frequently promoted of the categories being investigated, with unhealthy food and beverage brands accounting for 70.4% of the ‘harmful’ logos on screen.
Overall, gambling and prediction market logos were shown 15,789 times, making up 16.9% of the overall number of ‘harmful’ promotions and making it the second largest category.
When dividing the category into gambling and prediction markets separately, the former accounted for 6,429 logos and the latter 9,360.
The deal struck immediately before the tournament’s beginning between ADI Predictstreet and FIFA had a lot to do with the prevalence of prediction market branding.
ADI Predictstreet’s logo was almost omnipresent throughout each game, emblazoned on hoardings around the stadium, and as such represented 7,384 of the prediction market logo appearances.
This was compounded by the partnerships agreed later on between ADI and Kalshi, as well as with ADI and Fanatics.
In the gambling space, Betano was the big winner from a marketing perspective and made up 91.1% of all gambling advertising.
Caliente, Matchbook, Winner.mx and Confia were the other logos that appeared.
In terms of time, of the 172.6 hours of live game play, 13 hours contained either gambling or prediction market advertising, about 7.5% of the total.
Local considerations
Notably, FIFA apparently possesses virtual board replacement technology, allowing the advertisements to be edited when distributing the footage to countries where they don’t align with domestic laws.
However, the report claims that FIFA failed to use this technology effectively, issuing footage with embedded branding to countries where the use, advertisement or purchase of the products remains illegal.
Dr Rossi said: “One of the most advertised gambling brands listed licences in around 20 countries, while the World Cup was broadcast across more than 220 territories. Put plainly, audiences in the overwhelming majority of countries were shown advertising for a gambling operator that was not licensed locally.”
Even in the US, where the tournament was co-hosted, there is growing concern, with US Congressman Paul Tonko adding: “This is rapidly becoming the public health crisis of our generation. It’s clear that Congress needs to step in to provide minimum consumer safeguards for online sports gambling – whether done through prediction markets or traditional sportsbooks – by passing legislation like my SAFE Bet Act.”
This act, were it to be made law, would mean that despite the Supreme Court’s striking down of PASPA in 2018, states with legalised sports betting would be required to receive federal approval from the Department of Justice to ensure maintained adherence to the most up-to-date public health and consumer protection standards across advertising, affordability and AI.
https://next.io/news/marketing/study-gambling-prediction-ads-per-minute-world-cup/