World Cups Viewers Saw 1.5 Gaming Logos Per Minute, Study Says

The 2026 FIFA World Cup was definitely one of the top sports events of the year. The tournament was also a major driver of betting and event contracts trading, making significant contributions to sportsbooks and prediction markets. As it turns out, such businesses’ marketing efforts had skyrocketed during the tournament, resulting in significant customer exposure to such content. Study Examined How Many Times Gaming Logos Appeared A new study jointly conducted by the University of Bristol and the University of Oxford sought to establish how intense the advertising of harmful commodities was during the tournament. The team behind this research defined harmful commodities as various substances and pastimes, including gambling, alcohol, and junk food. The study examined the visibility of the logos promoted during the tournament’s 104 games. It should be noted that the study did not focus on ad breaks or the logos present at pundit studios, but on the visibility of logos during the games that were being played. According to the study, the FIFA World Cup 2026 broadcasts ended up exposing viewers to 1.5 gambling and prediction market logos per minute. During all World Cup games, gambling and prediction market logos were shown almost 16,000 times. For reference, gambling logos appeared on screen 6,429 times, while prediction market logos were displayed 9,360 times. It should be noted that the prevalence of prediction market logos appearing on screen was in large part due to FIFA’s recent partnership with ADI Predictstreet. That platform’s logo was single-handedly responsible for 7,384 of the 9,360 prediction market logo appearances. Likewise, Betano, which has been closely associated with FIFA for a while, was responsible for a staggering 91.1% of all gambling logo appearances. While these figures are nothing to sneeze at, gambling ads made up only 16.9% of all promotions of harmful commodities. The most promoted harmful commodities ended up being junk food and beverage brands, which constituted 70.4% of all such promotions. Some Believe That Stricter Regulations Are Needed While gambling was not the most promoted “harmful commodity,” some said that these findings mean that new restrictions are needed. Alex Ballinger MP, co-chair of the Gambling Reform APPG, argued that the study shows that the current safeguards are not adequate. Ballinger, who has long championed the creation of a new gambling act, said that the findings prove that urgent reform is needed. Dr Rafaello Rossi, a senior lecturer in marketing and the co-director of the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, as well as co-author of the study, added that despite FIFA’s virtual board replacement technology, many viewers still ended up being shown advertisements for gambling operators that are illegal in their regions. For reference, Rossi is a major promoter of a blanket ban on gambling ads in the UK.