In what was considered to be deeply positive for the people of the UK, but quite damaging to betting companies, the Premier League announced in 2023 that they had voted to ban shirtfront sponsorship by gambling companies, and this will start during the 2026 season.
In the 2023/2024 Premier League season, 8 teams were sponsored by betting companies. The ban on betting companies sponsoring premier league teams came after consultations between the Premier League and the government, or rather the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, after their White Paper spoke about the need for gambling reform.
The connotations are plain. The premier league has been promoting gambling and betting companies by frequent advertising and overt messaging, a plague that is hopefully about to settle. However, gambling branding can still remain on shirt sleeves and hoardings.
Sadly, the relationship between gambling and football goes a lot further, and inevitably, more needs to be done to solve the issue.
The Damning Statistics:
The issue is that the majority of these viewers are undoubtedly young men, those most effected by gambling. The subliminal messaging of betting sponsorships trivialise what can be quite a damaging pastime. Big Step campaign recently disclosed that 1.4 million people are addicted to gambling in the UK. A new service, NWGS, has been set up to tackle the surge in addictions and argues that football has a ‘blind spot’ to the impact they have in perpetuating the problem. Some have committed suicide due to their gambling addictions, and the reason that this has a particular resonance with men is due to the fact that the suicide rate is highest amongst this demographic; these same men with barriers to employment and opportunities may exploit gambling as a way to make money and fulfil their crave for social affirmation.
These issues are clearly what has sparked a response from the Premier League to adopt a new code of conduct which was aimed to ensure that gambling sponsorships are delivered in a socially responsible way, so that they don’t reach children and those most vulnerable to addiction.
Of course, this impending policy change comes with some downsides, but the threat is too huge for the problem to not be dealt with. The commercial implications are clear. 23.7% of EFL sponsors come from the gambling industry, and the question remains as to what clubs will do without this injection of cash?
Looking at all the leagues within the UK, SkyBet sponsors the Championship and has a deal worth £73 million over 5 years; these partnerships will be hard to replace. Newcastle have recently changed to Sela and I think that partnerships such as this will continue to thrive, but need to be done quickly and showcase their financial stability at an early stage. This could be a new chapter in shirt sponsorship and could even have a significant impact on the UK’s economy as a whole, with smaller businesses making strong, long-standing collaborations to ensure perpetual stability.
The government’s white paper suggested that there should be a desire to only allow sponsorship from companies that are licensed by the Gambling Commission, and I think this is a fantastic idea. This would root out any companies that white label, i.e. overseas companies who have a main target that isn’t UK based and want to use their brand with a third party’s licence. The 3rd party will make a contract with the consumer and thus the secret brand is able to operate in the UK. These companies cannot effectively be scrutinised by the standards imposed in the UK and so there is a clear likelihood of harm. Another example of the sinister capabilities of these organisations is Nottingham Forest’s recent sponsor, Kaiyun Sports, who were targeting customers in China where gambling is illegal.
An issue remains when considering the context of the global fanbase of the Premier League. National laws in the USA are much more accepting of gambling. 38 states have now legalised sports betting in some form. If visibility becomes more prominent within US sport, and as I have recently spoke about, the Premier League could be heading to the USA, this could have a far-reaching impact. Several gambling operators that act as sponsors within the Premier League also operate overseas and there is an evident interconnectivity between a global viewership and wide-ranging impacts on addiction.
There is clearly a high level of dependency between betting companies and the Premier League which needs to be halted. Day to day, betting sites come up on my for you page. Every football podcast that I personally listen to seems be sponsored by Bet365 or Skybet. Stadiums are named after betting companies; owners of teams are invested in gambling companies. This is clearly a problem, and unless more is done, the issues will perpetuate. The Premier League and subsequent campaigns have made good strides, but the Independent Regulator that will come in to impact English football needs to be equipped with the correct tools to deal with the situation head on.