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Prediction market logos outnumbered gambling logos in World Cup live play

By jili tutorial · September 24, 2026

Introduction: A Landmark Study on World Cup Advertising

The 2026 FIFA World Cup was not just a showcase of football talent—it also became a global laboratory for measuring the exposure of controversial advertising categories. A study published on 22 September 2026 by the University of Bristol, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, revealed a striking finding: prediction market logos appeared more frequently than gambling logos during live match play. This analysis of 172.6 hours of broadcast footage, powered by a supercomputer, exposes how FIFA’s commercial partnerships can bypass national laws and target audiences with unregulated, often harmful, products.

Background: Why This Study Matters

The Rise of Prediction Markets in Sports Sponsorship

Prediction markets—platforms where users bet on the outcome of future events—have grown rapidly in popularity, particularly in jurisdictions where traditional sports betting is heavily regulated. In April 2026, FIFA named ADI Predictstreet as its first official prediction market partner, marking a significant shift in sponsorship strategy. Unlike established gambling operators, prediction market companies often operate in legal grey areas, with limited oversight and no consistent licensing regime.

Previous Research on Unhealthy Advertising

The 2026 study builds on earlier work that documented the saturation of unhealthy food, alcohol, and gambling advertising at major sporting events. However, this is the first comprehensive analysis to include prediction markets and cryptocurrency alongside traditional categories, providing a complete picture of the commercial landscape during the World Cup.

Methodology: How the Logos Were Counted

The Role of Isambard-AI Supercomputer

The research team used Isambard-AI, a supercomputer at the University of Bristol, to process 172.6 hours of live match footage from all 104 matches of the 2026 World Cup (11 June – 19 July 2026). The supercomputer was programmed to identify and count brand logos visible on pitchside hoardings, on-field advertising, and other in-stadium branding built directly into the broadcast feed.

What Was Counted (and What Was Not)

The study excluded commercials shown during advertising breaks, focusing exclusively on embedded branding that appears during live play. This method captures the advertising that viewers cannot skip or ignore—the kind that runs continuously while the game is in progress.

Key Findings: A Breakdown by Category

Across all matches, the researchers counted 93,409 logos from five categories: unhealthy food and drink, alcohol, gambling, prediction markets, and cryptocurrency. The distribution is shown in the table below.

CategoryLogos in live playShare of total
Unhealthy food and drink65,72270.4%
Prediction markets9,36010.0%
Alcohol9,2669.9%
Gambling6,4296.9%
Cryptocurrency2,6322.8%
Total93,409100%

Prediction market logos (9,360) outnumbered gambling logos (6,429) by a margin of nearly 50%. This is the headline result, but the authors note that the sheer volume of unhealthy food and drink advertising (70.4% of all logos) remains the dominant concern.

Exposure Time and Global Reach

Branding from these five categories appeared in every match and was visible during 39.3 hours of live play—equivalent to 22.8% of the total broadcast time. For the United Kingdom alone, the researchers estimated 267 billion advertising impressions across the 53 broadcasts with available audience data.

Deep Dive into the Leading Brands

Prediction Markets: ADI Predictstreet Dominates

The majority of prediction market logos (7,384, or 78.9% of the category) came from ADI Predictstreet, FIFA’s official prediction market partner. It appeared in every single match. Two other platforms also featured prominently:

Gambling: Betano Leads as FIFA’s Official Sponsor

Betano, FIFA’s official tournament sponsor for Europe and South America, appeared in every match and accounted for 5,859 logos—91.1% of all gambling advertising. This concentration highlights how a single sponsor can saturate a global broadcast.

Global Reach and Regulatory Concerns

FIFA’s Shared Feed Bypasses National Laws

FIFA provided the same match footage—with identical pitchside branding—to broadcasters around the world. The researchers point out that virtual board replacement technology, which could have displayed different adverts in different countries, was not used by FIFA. This meant that audiences in territories where alcohol, gambling, or prediction market advertising is restricted or illegal were still exposed to those brands.

Dr. Raffaello Rossi, senior lecturer in marketing and co‑director of the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research, said: “FIFA’s marketing deals appeared to show little respect for national laws and licensing regimes. The tournament featured around 16,000 gambling and prediction markets logos, with this advertising reaching a host of countries where the promoted brands were unlicensed, or where their legal status was uncertain.”

A Stark Example: Licenses vs. Broadcast Reach

Rossi highlighted one particularly troubling gap: “One of the most advertised gambling brands listed licences in around 20 countries, while the World Cup was broadcast across more than 220 territories. Put plainly, audiences in the overwhelming majority of countries were shown advertising for a gambling operator that was not licensed locally.”

Joint Warning from European Regulators

On 17 June 2026, gambling regulators from nine European countries—Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland—issued a joint statement on prediction markets. They warned that where these platforms are not licensed, they offer no safeguards. Key risks include:

The statement also urged sports federations, leagues, and teams to verify the legality of prediction market platforms in their jurisdictions before entering into major partnerships.

Political Reaction and Calls for Reform

Alex Ballinger MP, co‑chair of the Gambling Reform APPG, responded to the study by highlighting the scale of the problem: “Logos and branding for gambling platforms, prediction markets, and cryptocurrency firms appeared more than 18,000 times in FIFA’s broadcast footage.” He expressed particular concern about children’s exposure, saying such regular advertising encourages young fans to associate their heroes and the sport with gambling, giving harmful products a cleaner image. “As this study makes clear, our current rules and safeguards are inadequate. Urgent reform is needed to protect young and vulnerable fans and preserve the beautiful game.”

What the Researchers Want to Change

The study’s authors made three concrete recommendations:

  1. Strengthen marketing rules for embedded branding – Governments and regulators should ensure that advertising rules apply to branding built into live sports broadcasts, backed by meaningful penalties for non‑compliance.
  2. FIFA should adopt a public interest standard – The organisation should use an independently developed, transparent framework to evaluate the social and health impacts of its commercial partnerships.
  3. Use technology to respect national laws – FIFA should implement virtual board replacement technology (or equivalent methods) to remove or replace branding where the promoted products cannot lawfully be advertised or offered in the receiving territory.

Conclusion: The Beautiful Game Needs Better Protection

The 2026 World Cup advertising analysis reveals a system that prioritises revenue over viewer welfare. Prediction markets have emerged as a new frontier of unregulated betting, while traditional gambling continues to reach global audiences regardless of local licensing. Without urgent regulatory action—both from national governments and from FIFA itself—the world’s most watched sporting event will remain a platform for products that harm health and finances, particularly among young and vulnerable fans.