Report: Premier League clubs to support ban on gambling shirt sponsors
Vote on voluntary ban expected to pass with the required 14 votes but won’t apply to betting and igaming sleeve deals
Premier League clubs are set to vote in favour of a ban on shirt sponsorships involving gambling companies, although this is not expected until a new Prime Minister is installed in September.
According to a report by The Times, there is enough support among English football’s top-flight, which means 14 out of the 20 clubs are expected to vote in favour of the gambling logos being prohibited.
This move has been seen as a preventative measure by the Premier League to prevent the government from introducing legislation to outlaw such deals as a result of the Gambling Act 2005 review.
A self-imposed ban would be subject to a transition period of three years, meaning that existing deals would be allowed to run their course, providing they expire no later than the 2024-25 season.
There is also the caveat that clubs only want this to affect front-of-shirt sponsors and not sleeve sponsors. These partnerships displayed on the left arms of players would be exempt.
None of the so-called ‘big six’ clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – have gambling sponsors on their kits.
Yet there are currently seven clubs which do, including Europa League finalists West Ham United and their long-running deal with Betway.
Newly promoted Fulham and Nottingham Forest are yet to disclose who will adorn their shirts this season.
Once this vote passes, the clubs are expected to inform the government that the money the top-flight gives to the EFL would need to be reduced due to the likely financial dip a self-ban will cause.
According to a club official, betting businesses are frequently the most profitable sponsorship partners and the easiest for newly promoted clubs to obtain deals. Choosing to withdraw them would likely result in income being cut by £5m to £10m per season.
After the upcoming season, Newcastle United are reportedly not looking to find a new betting business to replace Fun88 as shirt sponsor.
However, two years after their chief executive claimed that “in an ideal world”, they wouldn’t have a betting company as principal sponsor, Everton struck a club record “multi-year” contract with the gambling website Stake.com in June, reputedly for more than £10 million per season.
It is understood these measures would only affect the top 20 clubs in England and would not apply to any sides in the EFL.
Currently, 25% of clubs in England’s second tier have gambling brands on the front of their shirts.
This news comes after Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom, who is also one of the world’s biggest gamblers, supported the ban in an interview with The Athletic.
According to Bloom, there is still a place for gambling promotion in the game, but there is a need to safeguard children and those vulnerable to the negative effects of excessive gambling exposure.