World Cup viewers encounter 1.5 gambling or prediction logos once every minute

• World Cup viewers encountered 1.5 gambling or prediction logos every minute
• Prediction market instances led the way, with 9,360 of the total 15,789
• Gambling and prediction markets represented about 16.9% of harmful commodities, with the rest going mostly to junk food and alcohol

Major sports events are a rare opportunity for brands to quickly position themselves in the collective consumer awareness. Just think of the Super Bowl ads featuring Matt Damon and cryptocurrency platforms that flooded broadcasts.

Prediction market, gambling companies' logos seen at rate of 1.5 per minute

​That was then, and now- new research - has looked into how frequently World Cup viewers were displayed a logo that had to do with either prediction markets or gambling companies.

​The answer, according to the University of Bristol and the University of Oxford, which conducted dedicated research on this exact subject using the FIFA World Cup 2026 as a basis, is "a lot."

​There were 1.5 gambling and prediction market logos seen every minuteduring the broadcasts of all 104 games. The study did not specifically focus on traditional commercial breaks, but rather used a different term - "harmful commodities," which included alcohol, junk food, and gambling.

​Separately, during the 172.6 hours of live broadcasts, about 13 hours contained either gambling or prediction market ads, or 7.5% of the total.

​Dr Raffaello Rossi, a co-author of the study and a senior lecturer in marketing and the co-director of the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, has long urged more decisive measures against gambling advertising in all of its forms.

​During a House of Lords Liaison Committee held last week, Dr Rossi urged the government to consider a blanket ban on advertising - no exceptions. Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Rossi had this to add:

​"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."

​Gambling and prediction market logos appeared 15,789 times during the broadcast time and accounted for a modest share of the harmful commodities covered by the survey - 16.9% of the total.

Prediction markets edge out gambling companies' logos

​Looking further into those numbers, prediction markets led the way, spending heavily on having their logos seen, with 9,360 instances of prediction market logos displayed, as opposed to just 6,429 for legacy gambling companies.

​One specific prediction market platform led the way, with ADI Predictstreet’s logo seen 7,384 times. In terms of traditional gambling companies, Betano accounted for 91.1% of all gambling materials seen during the broadcast.

​Dr Rossi also took specific issue with the fact that while these logos were shown across 220 territories, many gambling companies were limited in their regulated reach. For example, said Dr Rossi, a gambling company was licensed in about 20 markets, but its logo was seen in all 220 territories.

Image credit: Unsplash.com