Gambling Ads Dominate PL Highlights Over World Cup
Gambling branding appeared on screen for 32% of Premier League highlight footage on YouTube, compared with less than 2% during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to University of Nottingham.
The study, led by researchers from the university's School of Medicine, is the first to compare exposure to gambling and other unhealthy commodity branding across the two tournaments' YouTube highlight packages.
What the Study Found
Researchers examined Sky Sports highlights from the final 10 matches of the 2025/26 Premier League season and FIFA's own YouTube highlights from 17 matches at the 2026 World Cup, which was won by Spain.
Unhealthy commodity branding, a category that includes gambling, alcohol and food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar, was visible during 38% of Premier League highlight footage against 19% of World Cup highlight footage.
Sports gambling was the single most prominent category in the Premier League clips, with brands visible for 32% of total screen time.
In the World Cup highlights, gambling branding appeared for under 2% of screen time. Viewers were also served up to 30 seconds of gambling adverts before roughly three minutes of match footage, exposure the study says happens before a single frame of play is shown.
Shirt Sponsorship Is Only Part Of The Picture
The research found that only around a quarter of gambling brand appearances in Premier League highlights were on the front of players' shirts, the single placement targeted by the Premier League's voluntary agreement to phase out front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship.
Lead author Nathan Davies, from the university's School of Medicine, said the finding shows how much gambling exposure sits outside that one restriction.
"Gambling branding was on screen for a third of the highlights we analysed, and only around a quarter of those appearances were on the front of shirts, the one placement the Premier League's voluntary agreement addresses," Davies said. "That leaves the great majority of gambling exposure in football coverage untouched."
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A Growing Audience for Highlights Clips
The comparison matters because of the scale of the audiences involved. The Premier League says 1.87 billion people interact with its content through media every week, while the 2022 World Cup engaged an estimated five billion people across media platforms.
YouTube highlights have become an increasingly common way to follow football, particularly among younger viewers: 81% of 3 to 17-year-olds in the UK regularly use YouTube, and highlight clips tend to concentrate the goals and other moments most likely to be rewatched and shared.
The study also found exposure to food and drink brands selling products high in fat, salt or sugar was more prominent in World Cup highlights, present for 13% of screen time.
Previous research cited in the paper has linked exposure to sports gambling advertising with increased betting frequency, spend and unplanned wagering.
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