INSIGHT
DON’T PUT YOUR
SHIRT ON IT
The lucrative partnerships between English Premier League teams and gambling companies are under
threat from the triennial review and the opposition’s calls for an outright ban, says Scott Longley
THE CURRENT ENGLISH Premier
League season may come to be seen as a
high-water mark for the number of shirts
sponsored by gambling companies.
In total, nine teams feature gambling
companies on their shirts – West
Ham, Newcastle, Everton, Crystal
Palace, Swansea, Bournemouth, Stoke,
Huddersfield and Burnley – and the
other 11 have differing forms of betting
partnerships and sponsorships as part of
their commercial relationships.
Since the relaxation of the rules in
the Gambling Act 2005 regarding the
advertising of gambling services, gambling
advertising has become a fixture of the
English game.
It is also a valuable income stream.
Sources suggest that those nine Premier
League sponsorship deals are worth
as much as £50m a year. But this high-
profile relationship doesn’t come without
controversy and a recent intervention from
the shadow culture secretary, Tom Watson,
suggests that some politicians wish that
the gambling sector’s shirt sponsorship
boom ends soon.
In September, Watson announced
that it was football’s responsibility to
“play its part in tackling Britain’s hidden
epidemic of gambling addiction” by
stopping gaming-related advertising.
“Shirt sponsorship sends out a message
that football clubs don’t take problem
gambling among their own fans seriously
enough,” he said. “It puts gambling
brands in front of fans of all ages,
not just at matches but on broadcasts
and highlights packages on both
commercial television and the BBC.”
the gambling minister Tra cey Crouch
fielded five parliamentary questions on
gambling issues. “Labour’s hostility
does not augur well for the outcome
of the gambling review,” Waugh adds.
“The current spate of gambling
controversies provides [Jeremy] Corbyn’s
team with the chance of not only putting
the Government on the spot but also
clipping the Blairite wing of their party.”
“The current spate of gambling controversies provides
[Jeremy] Corbyn’s team with the chance of not only
putting the Government on the spot but also clipping
the Blairite wing of their party”
Dan Waugh, Regulus Partners
Advertising is already part of the
upcoming triennial review being conducted
by the Department for Digital, Culture,
Media and Sport but this is an escalation
of the anti-gambling stance being taken
by the Labour Party.
“There is a sense that Labour is just
getting warmed up,” says Dan Waugh,
partner at gambling consultancy Regulus
Partners. He points out that in the same
week that Labour aired its new policy,
Shouting match of the day
The football clubs are understandably
tight-lipped about the future of shirt
sponsorship. None of the clubs
mentioned responded to our queries
and their gambling partners were
similarly unwilling to comment.
However, a spokesperson for Letou
(a Swansea sponsor) told the press:
“Betting on football is as old as the game
itself… [It] provides an entertaining
iGB Affiliate Issue 65 OCT/NOV 2017
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