Gambling companies in the United Kingdom are spending excessively on advertising. This is the message sent by The Guardian, a media publication, that has taken a look at the sector firms’ advertising practices, finding that the majority of them are still marketing aggressively to consumers.

The Jury Is Out on How Much Gambling Firms Spend on Ads

According to the media, companies have spent $2.6 billion on various forms of advertising, but the real figure may be significantly larger, as pinpointing the exact marketing spend for a sector so large proves challenging.

The Guardian estimates that gambling firms can be spending closer to $3.27 billion if anything on advertising, with these expenditures set to remain high. Exact accounts of gambling ads spending diverge when taking information from various sources.

The Betting and Gaming Council, which has mostly lobbied for a more moderate approach to gambling regulation, argues that the real number is closer to $1.31 billion. Meg Hillier, the chair of the influential Treasury select committee, has similarly disagreed with the current status quo and arguments against raising taxes on the industry, which is now a likely scenario under UK Treasury Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

According to Hillier, the fact remains that contributions to the budget are lower than the money the industry is spending on advertising, and thus any argument that taxes may become unwieldy under a proposed new bump should be taken with a grain of salt.

The BGC has objected to this assessment, explaining that tax rises make land-based operations unsustainable and that the regulated market loses further ground to the offshore market, which is not constrained by the same regulatory changes and rules.

Jobs at Risk, Gambling Ads Spending Figures Blown Out of Proportion

The BGC estimates that as many as 40,000 jobs may be lost as a result of a new tax hike. Other lawmakers, such as Labor MP Alex Ballinger, have been similarly critical.

“Perhaps gambling firms should think about cutting back on adverts that nobody wants to see before pushing back against paying fair taxes on their vast profits, particularly given the harms they cause.”

The BGC has insisted that these claims are a gross misinterpretation of the facts. The trade group insists that the spending, excluding lotteries, is indeed no greater than $1.32 billion and that it has indeed been reduced over the years.