{
  "id": 9086490,
  "title": "World Cup fans were exposed to junk food, alcohol and gambling ads every seven seconds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/22/world-cup-fans-were-exposed-to-junk-food-alcohol-and-gambling-ads",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-22T05:10:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euronews",
    "slug": "euronews",
    "url": "https://www.euronews.com/health/2026/09/22/world-cup-fans-were-exposed-to-junk-food-alcohol-and-gambling-ads-every-seven-seconds"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "During the 2026 World Cup, viewers were exposed to adverts for unhealthy food, alcohol, and gambling every seven seconds, according to a study. Over 93,000 ads promoting potentially harmful products were aired during the tournament's coverage, reaching approximately six billion people through television, streaming, digital, and social media platforms. This ad blitz accounted for 39.3 hours of live play, or nearly a quarter of the tournament's total live broadcast time.\n\nThe University of Bristol and University of Oxford researchers analyzed all 172.6 hours of live play across the tournament's 104 matches using the UK's most powerful supercomputer, Isambard-AI. They found that the majority of ads, 65,722 in total, were for unhealthy food and drink brands, making up 28.1 hours or 16.3% of all live play. Alcohol ads followed with 9,266 logos and 8.2 hours of screen time, while gambling ads accounted for 6,429 logos and 4.2 hours.\n\nThe study's co-authors, Raffaello Rossi and Elisa Becker, expressed concern over the advertising, stating that it is particularly troubling given the evidence linking marketing for unhealthy products, alcohol, and gambling to increased consumption and various health, social, and financial harms, especially among children and young people. They argued that sport should be part of the solution to poor health, not a platform for promoting products driving such issues.\n\nWhile the study only analyzed ads during live match coverage, it still highlights the significant impact of the 2026 World Cup as a powerful advertising platform for products associated with preventable illness and harm.",
  "summary": "Advertising for junk food, alcohol and gambling during the match live coverage of the World Cup occupied almost a quarter of the tournament’s total live broadcast time, a new study has found.",
  "key_points": [
    "Viewers exposed to 93,000 ads for unhealthy food, alcohol, gambling every seven seconds",
    "Ads accounted for 39.3 hours of live play, nearly a quarter of tournament's broadcast time",
    "Majority of ads (65,722) were for unhealthy food and drink brands"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The study's findings highlight the World Cup's role as a major platform for promoting products linked to preventable illness and harm, particularly to children and young people, through excessive advertising.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}