The Premier League is getting ready to kick out gambling front-of-shirt sponsors, however, the move is simply a distraction from a much-needed wider conversation.
For those who don’t know, Premier League teams have agreed to a ban on front-of-shirt sponsorships from the gambling industry following the completion of the upcoming season.
This decision, which was agreed upon in 2023, was ostensibly taken to quell pressure from football fans and stakeholders regarding the league’s ties to the betting industry, especially with Asian-facing brands that have limited to no association with UK audiences.
However, in doing so, the Premier League has simply shifted the visibility of betting brands from one area of a team’s kit to another.
Take the example of Leeds United. Upon their return to the Premier League, the club ditched the likes of Flamingo Land, a regional theme park, and Boxt, a UK-based boiler company, to announce Parimatch, an internationally recognised betting brand, as their new sleeve sponsor for the upcoming season.
It’s a move that may well signify a turning tide in the Premier League’s relationship with the gambling industry.
While the decision to ban front-of-shirt sponsorships shuts down a lucrative source of revenue for clubs, there are no such rules regarding betting sponsorships elsewhere on a teams kit of ground, which is where the likes of sleeve sponsorships come into play.
Tottenham, for example, have carried BetMGM as their official front of training wear sponsor since July 2024.
Given the amount of content teams release on social media, from training footage to pre-match press conferences, it could be argued that BetMGM’s logo is even more visible than the club’s actual front-of-shirt sponsor, the Hong Kong-based insurance firm AIA.
This should be especially worrying for those seeking to reduce the visibility of gambling sponsors in football, given that social media content is more likely to be consumed by a younger demographic, including those aged under-18 and legally not allowed to gamble in the UK.
In addition, it has already been seen that in countries such as Belgium and Italy where similar bans have been implemented, gambling companies have got around the rules by promoting the ‘infotainment’ arms of their brands.
This again demonstrates how desirable football is as an advertising tool for the industry.
The other problem with the decision is that it is simply a drop in the ocean when you consider how entrenched gambling companies are within football.
Looking below the Premier League, the English Football League, encompassing the second, third and fourth tiers of English football, are all sponsored by Sky Bet, and games from those leagues are aired on Sky Sports, the same platform that shows the majority of Premier League games broadcast in the UK.
In addition, the 72 teams within the EFL are free to partner with gambling companies as their primary sponsors.
By blocking such partnerships in the Premier League, there is now the possibility that gambling sponsors that previously targeted the UK’s top division will simply shift their focus and look to spend their marketing budget further down the English football pyramid.
Problems also arise when you look further afield.
Data reported by The Guardian found that two-thirds of teams across 31 European divisions have at least one betting partner. As a result, it is likely that teams visiting Premier League sides in European competitions will carry gambling companies as their front-of-shirt sponsors.
This highlights how ineffective the ban is when it comes from the Premier League, rather than as part of a wider stance by football’s governing body and the government.
Those of a certain age will remember Everton were forced to cover their sponsorship by the beer company Chang while playing in certain European games, due to rules surrounding alcohol sponsorships in select countries.
European teams heading to face Premier League opposition will not have to make such concessions due to the rule being implemented solely by the Premier League.
UEFA, European football’s governing body, has also tightened its relationship with the betting industry, recruiting bet365 and Betano as the official betting partners of the Champions League and Europa and Conference Leagues, respectively.
Although both brands remain solely as betting partners currently, it is not inconceivable that a Premier League side which is unable to carry a gambling front-of-shirt sponsor could lift the ‘bet365 Champions League’ in the near future, if the UK operator pursues a more prominent sponsorship position with UEFA.
Although a commendable stance to take, the Premier League’s decision, which was taken in isolation and also covers only a small area of sponsorship, undermines the impact of the league’s intentions.
Whether gambling sponsorships should be involved in football is a debate for another day.
What’s clear at this point is that the gambling industry has money to spend and football, due to its global popularity, is a lucrative avenue to grow brand awareness, whether that be domestically or globally.
If football in the UK is serious about taking a stance against the industry, any decisions regarding its visibility must be made through collaboration between leagues, clubs, governing bodies and the government.
If not, you arrive at this current situation where there is a patchwork of rules that directly contradict each other, and the Premier League appears to have made this decision to placate an unhappy section of fans rather than enact meaningful change.
Even with the ban looming, teams such as West Ham and Nottingham Forest have inked front-of-shirt partnerships with BOYLE Sports and Bally’s, respectively.
This suggests that not only are Premier League sides seeking one last payday from the industry, gambling brands are looking to position themselves with clubs ahead of the ban to gain prime position for establishing different partnerships once the ban comes into place.
Given the nature of the commercial relationship between the two industries, it’s not inconceivable that the price of securing sponsorships away from the front of shirts will rocket in value, pricing out all but companies, like those in the gambling industry, that have vast marketing budgets.
Rather than attempt to sever ties with the gambling industry, the Premier League, alongside the wider football industry in the UK, should look to strengthen rules surrounding sponsorships and ensure that operators entering into sponsorship deals have significant roots in the UK.
By doing so, this would eliminate the Asian betting brands that have littered the Premier League for the last decade and caused the most ill feeling among fans.
For example, TGP Europe recently exited the UK amid regulatory action due to anti-money laundering failures, taking with them brands such as SBOTOP, bj88 and DEBET. All of which have remained the front-of-shirt sponsors of Premier League clubs despite their UK exits.
Currently, UK Gambling Commission rules state that in this situation, all clubs need to do is ensure that the operators in question cannot be accessed by players in the UK.
Changing these rules to mean that brands must be licensed in the UK would be a positive start.
In addition, the requirements of betting sponsors once they have entered into partnerships with clubs must be upped.
There are examples of this being done well already, however, increasing this through an evolved mandate would serve to have a wider safeguarding impact – growing awareness of gambling harms and the safer gambling toolbox in an effective way.
Kindred has utilised its partnerships with teams such as Middlesbrough and Rangers to advertise its zero per cent mission, which encapsulates the company’s ambition to derive zero per cent of revenue from harmful gambling.
Meanwhile, Sky Bet has also developed a reputation for more responsible sponsorship through initiatives such as its Fan Hop Survey, supporter loyalty schemes and mental health campaigns with the EFL.
It is naive to think that some portion of revenue derived from gambling isn’t generated through harmful behaviour.
However, if football clubs in partnership with their gambling sponsors are mandated to reinvest a portion of funding into community out-reach projects, this can only be seen as a positive for the areas that clubs represent.
By fostering meaningful relationships with established brands, while implementing rules to weed out the more unscrupulous operators, the Premier League would have the opportunity to reshape football’s relationship with the gambling industry while maintaining a lucrative source of income for the game.
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