Tobacco firms used to occupy that slot. We Don't miss them.
Yes. People accepted that everyone smoking was 100% endangering their body and risking causing their own death by doing so. Times change. It was the responsible thing to do.
What changed regarding gambling ? Is everybody in danger ? Are the people experiencing harm (0.6% of gamblers) just as likely to be put in trouble by something else to get “legally” addicted to and churn through their money if not gambling. Crypto ? Etoro ? OnlyFans ? (I am not qualified to answer that)
100% of smokers are endangering their body.
0.6% of UK gamblers have an addiction problem.
I’d guess 98% don’t win long term and get a recreational thrill of the game and probably 1% win and actually make money.
How can Smoking and Gambling ever be equated ?
What about the person spunking thousands on crap on Amazon or the Next catalogue credit that they can’t afford and spiralling into tragedy ? How many of them are there ? Current UK regulation of gambling states the money gambled has to be physically yours, no credit cards involved.
You pay your own money and you take your chance on either skill or a game of chance. You are not setting fire to a £10 note every time you press the button, which for some reason is the way it is being portrayed due to the revenues of bookmakers. Thats what bookmaking is, you run a 105% book turnover a few billion and the 5% you keep if it plays out level. Same applies to the bingo and slots (only on a much higher % margin and no real skill involved)
The genuine filth in the game is already outlined above - predatory stuff - its happened to posters on here, tragic stuff. Not adhering to the clear rules and allowing someone to blow thousands in a couple hours with no intervention. Bingo chat rooms actually enticing people to play pretending they are your friend.
Thats allowed to happen because the UK Govt / Gambling Commission absolutely refuses to take on the expense of a proper regulatory and affordability setup paid for by the billions in tax they are collecting.
The answer to all this is not to eliminate gambling and hide it, its utterly ridiculous. Its not something to be hidden. For some, its actually presented an opportunity to use their knowledge of sport and a bit of maths to make themselves better off, at the opposite end of the scale from the tragedy you read of. The Bingo and Slots, couldn’t really give a toss, there is no skill involved, much of the predatory stuff happens there.
Make it cleaner and safer, properly regulated by a UK body with actual teeth then we all can continue safely.
This is actually a much wider and targeted thing than just “Football Advertising” the UK Gambling Act of 2005 is about to be ripped up. This is them testing the waters for how far they can push it and getting it on the wider radar of society, the ones that dont particularly care but will have a default “gamblings bad” position.
It’s actually bizarre that while we hit this point in the UK - America is exploding right now with bookmakers galore getting licensed, Sports Teams actually signing exclusive deals with books for in stadium presence and official adverts throughout live American Sport even stated by the commentators, not just graphics.
Whatever your position, be safe.