The Premier League is preparing to vote on the ban on betting sponsorships, which will put an end to the promotion of gambling companies on the front of the shirts of football players. The Government agreed to include only shirt-front sponsorships in the White Paper on gambling, meaning ‘other inventory” such as shirt-sleeve brand promotions will not be included in the ban. Despite that, the Premier League clubs are looking for alternative businesses, which can appear on the shirt-fronts of footballers.
If the ban gets a vote in favour of the changes, the new restriction will come into effect starting the 2026-27 football season.
Premier League Clubs to Agree on Shirt-Front Betting Sponsorship Ban to Avoid Bigger Restrictions
The ban on betting shirt-front sponsorships is expected to be approved by Premier League clubs very soon. As the White Paper on gambling is about to be released soon by the UK government, European League clubs are considering voting in favour of the ban to avoid a stricter ban on gambling shirt sponsorships entirely.
The voting on the shirt-front betting promotions ban is to be held during the summer Premier League meeting this June. Most of the teams are willing to approve the ban, with the proviso that they are given a transition period of three years as many Premier League clubs are currently under betting sponsorship contracts that will not expire in a couple of years. Meanwhile, the teams will also use the three-year transition time slot to find alternative sponsors from other fields.
The Government agreed on a compromise over the betting sponsorship shirt ban, with sleeve sponsorships still being allowed. Currently, eight out of the 20 teams in the Premier League have betting brands on their shirt fronts.
Sides like Brentford, Fulham, and Newcastle will have their respective sponsorship deals with Hollywoodbets, W88, and Fun88 expire in 2023. Both Bournemouth’s deal with Dafabet and the sponsorship contract between Southampton and Sportsbet.io will not expire until 2024. West Ham’s Betway sponsorship deal will see its expiration date in 2025, while Everton and Leeds have signed multi-year contracts with Stake. Com and SBOTOP respectively.
What Are Sponsorship Deal Alternatives After Shirt-Front Betting Ban Comes into Effect?
While clubs agree on the harmful effects of promoting betting companies on their shirt, many would have a tough time choosing other sponsorship deals as financially beneficial as the betting ones. Premier League clubs have enjoyed quite the revenue from sponsorships with gambling companies. That said, their involvement with betting names has become concerning, with groups like children and vulnerable people being negatively affected by the constant exposure to addictive products.
If the ban on gambling sponsorships gets approval, this would most likely inflict an income cut of about £5 million for clubs, with their seasonal losses being estimated at around £10 million. As clubs’ commercial agents need to come up with new partnerships, they may use the “Big Six” as a moral model, as none of the biggest clubs has agreed on a front-of-shirt sponsorship with a betting company.
Airlines, financial services, communication and technology companies, and car retailers are a few of the alternative long-term partnerships teams like Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, and Man United have signed with non-betting companies.
- Author
Daniel Williams
