Researchers from Sheffield Addictions Research Group recently presented their work on the effectiveness of gambling advertising bans and the unequal impact of gambling and alcohol on disadvantaged communities.

Television gambling advertising during football matches

Research Associate and PhD student Ellen McGrane was invited to a gathering of the Gambling Research Education and Treatment (GREAT) Network in Swansea where she presented her PhD work looking at the impact of a voluntary gambling advertising ban during live sports broadcasting in the UK.

Findings from her research are explored in the paper How did the ‘whistle-to-whistle’ ban affect gambling advertising on TV? A live football matching study.

The GREAT Network is funded by the Welsh Government and aims to drive research, education and treatment for all forms of gambling-related harm in individuals, families and communities.

The event on 5 September 2024 brought together gambling researchers to encourage sharing of research and future collaborations.

Explaining inequalities in harms from gambling and alcohol

Research Associate Dr Laura Fenton presented work from a project funded by the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) at the European Sociological Association Conference in Porto held on 27-30 August 2024.

During a session entitled ‘Exploring social capital’s impact on health through sociological lenses’, Laura presented a paper currently in development which synthesizes theories and explanations in sociological, geographical and public health literature about the unequal harms from gambling and alcohol in economically disadvantaged areas.

Laura is co-author on the paper alongside lead author Dr Katie Powell and other colleagues from SPHR. The research was conducted for the project Conceptualising local systems of consumption that produce inequalities: the night-time economy.