# World Cup viewers exposed to harmful branding

> World Cup broadcasts show 93,000+ unhealthy food, alcohol and gambling brand appearances every seven seconds.
- Title: World Cup viewers exposed to harmful branding · Bristol
- Summary: World Cup broadcasts show 93,000+ unhealthy food, alcohol and gambling brand appearances every seven seconds. A University of Bristol study found 93,000+…
- Keywords: world cup, university of bristol, fifa, gambling, alcohol, unhealthy food, sponsorship, branding, prediction markets, cryptocurrency, technology, startups
- Source: Bristol — https://bristol.ac.uk/news/2026/september/world-cup-viewers.html
- Published: 2026-09-22T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: world cup, university of bristol, fifa, gambling, alcohol, unhealthy food, sponsorship, branding, prediction markets, cryptocurrency, technology, startups
## World Cup branding study
New research led by University of Bristol and University of Oxford found 93,000+ visible appearances of harmful brands during 2026 World Cup.
## Harmful branding scale
The study counted 65,722 unhealthy food and drink brand appearances, 9,360 prediction markets, 9,266 alcohol brands and 6,429 gambling brands.
## Embedded advertising
Researchers used UK's most powerful supercomputer to analyze 172.6 hours of live play across 104 matches for harmful branding.
## Global exposure
FIFA reported nearly six billion people engaged with the tournament, with 267 billion impressions of harmful products in UK broadcasts.
## Brand concentration
Four major brands accounted for 65% of harmful logos: a soft drink brand with 21,893 appearances, fast-food chain with 13,915, sports drink with 12,777 and crisps brand with 12,087.
## Dr Raffaello Rossi
Dr Raffaello Rossi, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at University of Bristol, said World Cup provided unparalleled platform for advertising unhealthy products.
## Health concerns
Dr Rossi noted marketing for unhealthy products links to increased consumption and health, social and financial harms especially among children.
## Dr Elisa Becker
Dr Elisa Becker, Researcher at University of Oxford, said sport should be part of solution to poor health not advertising platform for harmful products.
## Cross-border issues
FIFA shared match footage with broadcasters in countries where alcohol, gambling or prediction markets advertising may be restricted or illegal.
## FIFA's oversight
FIFA did not use virtual board replacement technology to show different advertising in countries with legal restrictions on promoted products.
## Gambling exposure
The study found 16,000 gambling and prediction markets logos reached countries where promoted brands were unlicensed or legal status uncertain.
## Technology gap
Technology used in UEFA EURO 2024 already allows different countries to see different pitchside advertising but FIFA did not use it.
## Calls for action
Researchers urge governments to enforce marketing rules for embedded branding and FIFA to adopt public interest standards for commercial partnerships.
## Policy responses
Obesity Health Alliance and Gambling Reform APPG called for extending advertising restrictions to sport and urgent reform to protect young fans from gambling.
## Congressional stance
US Congressman Paul Tonko urged legislation to provide consumer safeguards for online sports gambling and get sports out of gambling industry's hands.
## Key takeaway

A University of Bristol study found 93,000+ harmful brand appearances during 2026 World Cup, with 65% from four major brands.