Uni study sparks booze ban call
Concerns over alcohol sponsorship in sport
Campaigners have called for alcohol sponsorship to be banned in Scottish sport after Stirling academics found drink advertising features every 15 seconds at some high-level fixtures.
City university researchers examined the official sponsors or partners of football and rugby teams in Scotland, including the top two SPFL divisions and both professional rugby union teams, as well as the Scottish Football Association and Scottish Rugby.
They found alcohol companies represented seven per cent of the main sponsors or partners in 2018-19 - 15 per cent in rugby union and four per cent in football.
The University of Stirling study found that, where present, alcohol sponsorship “uses a variety of marketing activities to ensure that it is highly visible and appears salient to consumers”.
These include kit logos, stadium advertising, limited edition products and players featuring in marketing content.
The academics also analysed the frequency of alcohol marketing in seven sports broadcasts in 2018-19.
On average, an alcohol reference featured around once every 15 seconds in the
Six Nations match between Scotland and England.
For Scottish Premiership football highlights, it happened every 57 seconds on average, rising to 71 seconds in the Scottish Cup final and 98 seconds in a league match.
Researchers said they attempted to analyse the alcohol marketing references in a game between Scotland’s two professional rugby teams - Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby - but were unable to do so due to the high volume.
The University of Stirling’s Richard Purves said: “Alcohol sponsorship was particularly visible in rugby union, both in terms of the number of sponsorship relations with alcohol companies and how often alcohol marketing references appeared in the television broadcasts analysed.
“For football, alcohol sponsorship appeared to be more prevalent amongst larger or more successful teams, for example, those playing at the top level, compared to clubs which offered fewer opportunities for national and international exposure, such as those in the lower leagues.”
Charity Alcohol Focus Scotland and public health experts from Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) want the Scottish Government to ban alcohol sponsorship from sport.
Alison Douglas, Alcohol Focus Scotland chief executive, said: “The current system of self-regulation is no regulation.
“It is failing to protect people - especially our children and other vulnerable people.
SHAAP director Dr Eric Carlin called on clubs to follow the lead of Scottish women’s football in rejecting alcohol and gambling sponsorship.
Sports minister Joe FitzPatrick said: “We want to go further to protect our children and young people from alcohol harms and that is why I intend this year to consult on potential mandatory restrictions on alcohol marketing and advertising.
“Scotland will be the first of the UK nations to do so. “
He repeated a call for the UK Government to introduce a 9pm watershed on alcohol advertising on TV, or devolve powers to enable Scotland to do so.
A Scottish Rugby spokesman said: “Sponsorship revenue attracted to the elite level of the sport helps us reinvest record amounts into the grassroots game, for the betterment of the game and society moreover by encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle through participation.
“Together with our partners, we ensure responsible messages are prevalent throughout our match days at BT Murrayfield - from the match programme, social media posts, pitch-side LED and advertising hoardings, as well as big screen and PA announcements.”
The current system of self-regulation is no regulation. It is failing to protect people