Gamblification, Professional Complicity and Regulatory Failures in Mediated Live Sport on the Island of Ireland

This study, presented at the Gam(bl)ing Conference 2026, examines how gambling marketing has infiltrated live sport broadcasting and social media on the island of Ireland, arguing that existing regulation has failed to keep pace with these practices. Drawing on a two-year project on gambling marketing, sport and young people, the authors analysed 22.5 hours of live sports programming across four public service and four commercial broadcast and streaming services in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, alongside 114 posts and 79 reels from seven major gambling brands' Instagram accounts, gathered in 2023 and 2024.

The findings point to a high volume of direct gambling promotion, with over 2,100 recorded references, most often static pitchside advertising and player shirt sponsorship. Marketing was concentrated in international men's darts, football and horse racing, and the researchers found that both public service and commercial broadcasters, along with professional journalists, were complicit in promoting gambling services and reusing promotional clips. Responsible gambling messages were frequently absent or hard to read. On Instagram, brands relied heavily on promotional and entertainment content, using affective strategies to build familiarity with both gamblers and non-gamblers.

The authors situate these practices within the wider concept of gamblification, distinguishing between affective and effective forms and emphasising that exposure must be understood through platform infrastructures designed to maximise engagement. They conclude that current regulation in both jurisdictions, including Ireland's newly established gambling regulator and Northern Ireland's outdated framework, does not address incidental advertising or indirect social media tactics. They also argue that these insights carry implications for digital games regulation, where affective monetisation strategies remain under-examined.