UK commercial radio had its best year in 2025, bringing in a record £747 million in advertising revenue, according to figures from Radiocentre. This beat the previous record of £740 million, set in 2022.
Radio stations make a significant portion of their money by allowing a business to pay for a slot, and in return, the station plays that business’s advert to its listeners. Gambling is also a major advertising category. In its April 2026 report, The Ad Spend Disconnect, the marketing intelligence firm WARC forecasts that gambling will account for around 5% of radio broadcaster revenues in the 2025/26 period, although that estimate covers gambling advertising generally rather than online casino operators alone.
This article explains how much these companies spend on ads, what those ads can say, and when they can air.
What Are Gambling Advertisers Spending?
Licensed betting and gaming companies spent £1.15 billion on advertising and £138 million on sponsorship between October 2023 and September 2024, according to the Alvarez & Marsal Gambling Advertising and Sponsorship Report 2025. Most of the ad bill, £768 million, went to digital adverts like websites and apps. Broadcast advertising, which covers television and radio together, took £341 million.
Another study by WARC, reported by the Guardian, puts the figure at £2 billion. The Betting and Gaming Council disputed the figure in November 2025, saying spend was closer to £1 billion. Licensed gambling advertising accounted for 2.7% of total advertising spend in the 12 months to September 2024, down from 3% in the previous period.
Why Radio’s Gambling Advertising Draws Scrutiny
The features that make radio commercially useful to gambling advertisers are also those that raise questions about listener exposure.
Lower costs can mean repeated exposure
Radio and television advertising costs are not directly comparable because campaigns vary by station, audience, schedule and production requirements. Simply Business estimates that local radio spots can cost around £500, while national placements can run into thousands of pounds. It also notes that many television broadcasters require a minimum campaign spend of £15,000.
A lower starting budget can make repeated placements more accessible, meaning listeners may encounter the same gambling campaign several times.
A short path from advert to app
Online casino services are accessed through websites and apps, so a radio advert can direct listeners towards the same digital channels used for the product itself.
That shortens the gap between hearing an advert and being able to gamble, which is one reason broadcast gambling promotion attracts scrutiny.
Local reach can concentrate exposure
PPL, the body that licenses commercial stations to play recorded music, lists more than 400 UK commercial radio stations. Many operate at local or regional level, allowing gambling campaigns to focus on particular geographic audiences.
That means exposure can be concentrated within particular communities rather than distributed evenly across a national audience.
Industry return claims and the pressure to advertise
Radiocentre’s 2025 High Gain Audio study, conducted with WPP Media, reported a full-term profit return of £5 for every £1 spent on broadcast radio and a short-term return of £2.30. The equivalent all-media averages were £4.11 and £1.87.
These are industry research findings rather than a measure of gambling advertising specifically. They nevertheless help explain the commercial incentive for advertisers, including gambling operators, to continue buying radio airtime as regulatory scrutiny increases.
Impact of UK Gambling Advertising Rules
Gambling adverts on radio are governed by the BCAP code. This is a rulebook used by the Advertising Standards Authority to control broadcast adverts on behalf of the media regulator, Ofcom. It provides details of when gambling adverts can air and what they are allowed to say. Gambling adverts must not be likely to have strong appeal to people under 18.
The advertising rules sit within a wider tightening of gambling regulation, which has also included new online-slot stake limits and a statutory gambling levy.
Since April 2025, a statutory levy on licensed gambling operators has replaced the previous system of voluntary industry contributions. The money is ring-fenced for research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm.
The advertising approach has also changed. The Alvarez & Marsal report, commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council, found that around 20% of operators’ advertising spend was devoted to safer-gambling messaging. Also, gambling’s share of total UK advertising spend has fallen for three consecutive years. WARC’s April 2026 report links the decline to tighter government rules, increased taxation and margin pressures.
The future of gambling advertising on radio
The figures suggest gambling advertisers aren’t going anywhere, even with tougher rules. Commercial radio’s record £747 million in 2025 shows that advertisers of many kinds, including gambling companies, continue to see value in reaching radio audiences.
But new rules and regulations are changing the direction of their messages. Gambling’s share of advertising has fallen, while a greater proportion of industry advertising spend is now directed towards safer-gambling messages. Also, there are tighter limits on what can be said and when.
In September 2026, the House of Lords Liaison Committee recommended a comprehensive ban on gambling advertising. The proposal is a committee recommendation rather than current government policy, but it adds further uncertainty to the future of gambling advertising on commercial radio.