Kids Ask 'Can We Have Our Ball Back?' in Ad Promoting Gambling Awareness

Today And Rising launches #CanWeHaveOurBallBack, a new social media initiative for the charity GambleAware. The film-led initiative premieres ahead of a packed season of festive football fixtures, with the aim of raising awareness around the relationship between football and gambling, in particular how the volume of gambling-related marketing around football is normalising gambling for children.

GambleAware is the leading national charity working to improve public awareness of gambling as a health issue. The launch of #CanWeHaveOurBallBack follows new financial analysis by gambling industry specialists, Regulus Partners, that shows the total spend by gambling companies on marketing is up by 56%, to £1.5bn, since 2014.

Just this month, an audit by the Gambling Commission revealed that the number of ‘problem gamblers’ aged 11 to 16 has reached 55,000. It also found 70,000 youngsters were at risk and 450,000 children bet regularly - the equivalent of one in seven children aged 11 to 16.

The film, directed by Outsider's Scott Lyon, depicts young football fans losing their ball, only to later find it again with thousands of others on top of a betting shop. It aims to encourage football lovers to reflect on why they love the game and what role betting plays in that, in an environment where nearly 60% of clubs in England’s top two divisions have gambling company logos on their shirts.