Watching the premier league this season has been characterised by a few key things. Goals from set-pieces, Arsenal going for their first title in 22 years, instances of online and in person abuse and online gambling ads. The Daily Telegraph estimated Sky makes around £200 million a year selling space on their advert breaks to gambling companies. However, it goes beyond the gaps in play. 11 of the 20 premier league teams have a gambling sponsor on the front of their shirts. In fact, if you were to buy a replica shirt from a random Championship or Premier League side, there would be a 59% chance it has a betting company on the front.
All these adverts are there to familiarise audiences to brands and get them to pay into a vast industry. An industry that made £16.8 billion (Total gross gambling yield of the customer facing gambling industry in Great Britain as found by the gambling commission in years 2024-2025).
But does usage of sports betting apps lead to an increase in abuse in football? Looking at the data, we can find out.
Are we using more online sports betting apps?
Online sports betting was first made legal with the 2005 gambling act and since then have steadily grown. The Annual Statistics from the National Gambling Treatment Service organised by BeGambleAware.org found that “Between 2015/16 and 2021/22 the proportion reporting use of online gambling services increased from 57% to 75%”. Furthermore, it found that 75% of people that placed bets did so online. So, in less than 20 years online sports betting has dominated the market.
Has there been an increase in abuse in football?
The BBC reported, with analysis from the data science company Signify, that there were more than 2000 abusive messages and posts on social media sent to managers and players from the Premier League and WSL over the weekend of the 8th and 9th of November 2025. Thats a huge amount of abuse for one weekend that included no major finals or notable fixtures. The abuse ranged from homophobia to racism and went as far as death and rape threats. The same article, that was posted by the BBC on the 6th of December, quoted Signify’s chief executive Jonathan Hirshler saying, “We’ve seen around a 25% year-on-year increase in the levels of abuse we’re detecting.”
Is there any correlation between the two increases?
Not much research exists around correlation between betting on football leading to abuse. This is because research is primarily performed by survey and requires people to fill out their own details. Very few people admit to excessive gambling – 9% of people questioned by the Gambling Commission admitted to lying to their friends and family about gambling habits and 20% said they felt uncomfortable talking with their friends and family. Statistics around the motives for online abuse are even harder to come by because it would come for the very few who are caught a prosecuted, and that information is not publicly available.
The most detrimental form of gambling habit is categorised by the Gambling Commission as ‘harmful gambling’. This has a documented effect on the way those people treat others around them. When people were asked about the effect having a partner, parent, friend of colleague with ‘harmful gambling’ habits 75% said they experienced depression, anxiety, and anger; 82% said the relationship was affected in some way by gambling. This ranged from financial loss to physical violence and domestic abuse.
Furthermore, Public Health England found in the ‘Gambling Related Harms Evidence Review’ that sports and other event betting was notably high on the list of categories associated with harmful gambling. Combining that with the gambling commission finding that football took up 40% of sports betting in 2020, one could logically assume, that people with harmful gambling habits take part in football betting. Though it is important to state that that would be an assumption.
Is there a link?
At the moment there is not enough data or research on the motivations of people committing online abuse of sports people, and that is the big hurdle. Cases of online abuse towards footballers, managers, and referees are high and increasing. Use of online betting apps is also high and increasing year on year. Harmful gambling habits lead to cases of domestic abuse, as well as abuse of work colleagues and friends. However, it is impossible to prove that an increase in the use of online sports betting apps has led to an increase in abuse in football.
There is currently no data-backed explanation for online abuse and as long as the motivations for the online abuse of footballers continues to go unscrutinized the issue will continue.
