'Children shouldn't be exposed to gambling' - Calls for Lotto draw to air after 9pm watershed

A team of gambling control researchers across Ireland have called for the Lotto draw to be aired after the 9pm watershed saying "children should not be exposed to gambling".

The researchers, which include Dr Frank Houghton from the Technological University of the Shannon, have called on the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery (ORNL) to prohibit such gambling advertising being broadcast during times when children are highly likely to be watching.

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In their analysis of two years of televised Lotto draws they noted that almost none took place after the 9pm watershed. Their research examined over 200 draws that took place during the years 2023 and 2024.

They found that Lotto draws almost always took place during, or immediately after programming labelled as suitable for children aged 12 or below (12/12a). What they found most alarming was when the Saturday evening children’s film was stopped at approximately 8pm to facilitate the televising of the lotto draw, before the film was restarted.

The research paper, which has just been published in the journal Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health, involved a team of researchers from TUS, QUB, UL, and UCC.

The researchers admit to being confused about the early programming of the televised draw given guidelines that would appear to prohibit this.

Section 6 of the National Lottery Advertising and Promotion Code of Practice states: ‘No Advertising should appear in media or parts of media (to include online advertising and social media) directed primarily to people under the age of 18 years, or in media where more than 50% of the audience is expected to be under the age of 18’.

In relation to the scheduling of promotions and advertising the RTÉ Programme Content Standards document states that:

‘Promotions and advertising that are unsuitable for a general audience including children must be carefully scheduled. Promotions or adverts scheduled next to programmes targeted at children or when children are particularly likely to be watching, or in online content likely to appeal to a significant number of children, should be suitable for that audience.’

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Dr Frank Houghton, from the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) who led the project, stated,

“I don't understand how anyone ever thought it was appropriate to either stop the Saturday night family movie to show the Lotto draw, or show it immediately afterwards. We need to stop pretending the Lotto isn’t gambling”.

A co-author of the article, Prof. Anne Campbell, from the Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB), notes that,

“We have a 9 o'clock threshold on TV for a reason. Children should not be exposed to gambling advertising and that includes National Lottery marketing. This is an important child safeguarding obligation”.

Although the National Lottery draw has in the past few weeks moved to just before the news, Dr Houghton states that, “Although this is an improvement it remains inappropriate to have such programming before 9pm”.