Former gamblers fight to ban betting in English football

As the British government once again postpones a ban on betting sponsorships and online casinos in the English Premier League, a group of fans have gathered their strength to oppose sports betting advertising.

In some ways, they are right: no Premier League match can now be watched without seeing sports betting advertisements. Football uniforms, banners, billboards, TV ads – everywhere you’re asked to bet money on one team or another.

James Grimes used to be a gambling addict himself. Today he claims that every day of delay in adopting the ban takes at least one life of a gambler. He leads a group of “Big Step” fans who used to be into sports betting and now try to get the word out to the larger masses of fans that it’s not a good idea to do such things.

Grimes argues that advertising for bookmakers in the Premier League used not to be such a problem, but over time there have been more and more mentions of sports betting. Now even in the names of the leagues, there are advertisements: Sky bet Championship, Sky bet League One, Sky bet League Two.

Just think: in the match between Wolverhampton and Newcastle, the director of television broadcasts seized a section of the stadium, on which in three rows were placed banners advertising the bookmaker’s office. Obviously, the club gets a lot of money for each of them, which it then spends on improving the players’ equipment and acquiring new players. Nevertheless, something has to be done about it.

James Grimes has been a Norwich fan since he was 8 years old and attended Norwich games with his father on a season ticket. As soon as he turned 18, he started going to soccer on his own, and after college, he took a job as an accountant. Most of his co-workers bet on every round of the APL, and he followed suit. As it turned out, his willpower was much weaker than those around him. The young man got sucked into the abyss of gambling, from which family and specialists helped him out. Now James says he will never bet again. Moreover, he will do everything to ensure that they hurt as few people as possible.

The “Big Step” group is focused on working with clubs and the government, trying to change the way clubs advertise to betting partners. The strength of this group is that almost all of its members have had an addiction before, so they know what they are up against. Therefore, they use their example to show how negatively gambling can affect the lives of ordinary people.

Many sports betting enthusiasts are also addicted to gambling. According to topcadcasinos.net, the Internet is swarming with gambling platforms that accept citizens of Britain, Canada, and other countries. This further exacerbates the problem of gambling. 

Well, while Big Step volunteers are coming up with new ways to show the government the harms of gambling, its members apparently don’t know how to respond. News of the bill’s passage was supposed to come out this summer, but as of late September, nothing was heard of it.

You can view the original article HERE.