A new study released today has found that football fans received 11,000 gambling messages during the Premier League opening weekend.

In response, a Big Step spokesperson said:

“This new study shows the government’s failure to act on gambling ads has given football clubs and broadcasters a license to push arguably even more gambling marketing down the throats of fans young and old. Where is the evidence that it’s safe to broadcast 11,000 gambling adverts to tens of thousands of children every weekend?

“Online casinos and complicit clubs and broadcasters have turned watching football into a torturous experience for the millions of people in this country harmed by gambling.  

“Incessant advertising makes our football grounds look like the Las Vegas strip, with the constant push to gamble infecting every bit of our national sport. It shouldn’t be this way.

“As a group representing people harmed by gambling, supported by nearly 200,000 members of the public, we are renewing calls for an end to this advertising bombardment of addictive products. We want to prevent any other fan from experiencing what we did.

“We are urging this government – and the next – to follow the evidence, listen to the public, and end gambling advertising and sponsorship in football.”