Dwight McNeil (left) and Demarai Gray of Everton during a Premier League match between Manchester United and Everton at Old Trafford on April 8, 2023 in Manchester, England. The club’s jerseys are sponsored by the net casino Stake.com.
Tony Mccardle – Everton Fc | Everton F.C. | Getty Images
Football clubs in the highest flight of the English Premier League agreed on Thursday that gambling companies won’t be allowed to advertise on the front of match shirts from the tip of the 2025/2026 season.
The move follows widespread concern and ongoing campaigns to limit or ban gambling advertisements.
It’s the primary British sports league to voluntarily take up the move, although clubs will still have the ability to advertise gambling branding on shirt sleeves and side boards.
Eight of the 20 teams within the Premier League are sponsored by gambling companies this season, including Everton £10 million ($12.5 million) per season take care of Stake.com and Southampton’s online casinos reported £7.5m/yr take care of Sportsbet.io.
Some betting companies use the clubs to advertise in non-European markets, with Fulham currently sponsored by Asia’s W88 and Everton previously sponsored by Kenya’s Sportpesa.
In accordance with Statista estimates, club shirt sponsorships were price a complete of £350 million within the 2019-20 season, around £60 million of which got here from gambling companies.
Gambling promoting is amazingly outstanding in other areas of sponsorship, including TV commercials before, during and after games, and stadium banner ads. For instance, Stoke City, who’re currently within the second tier of England, play on the Bet365 stadium.
Campaign groups called the move significant in recognition of the harm attributable to gambling, but said they didn’t address the problem, including since the move only covers the front of the shirts and never the sleeves of the shirts. The Premier League didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
“Just moving the emblem to a different part of the kit, while allowing on-pitch promoting and league sponsorship to proceed, is totally inconsistent,” said James Grimes, founder of campaign group The Big Step, which is looking for a ban on all football gambling promoting.
“Without government motion on all forms of football gambling promoting, at every level, online casinos will use all voluntary means and proceed to market their products through our national sport.”
The federal government desires to tighten the principles
Campaign groups have consistently reported significant harm from gambling addiction within the UK and beyond when betting online gained popularity throughout the restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The UK government is to publish report on the regulation of the gambling sector before the tip of the month, although this was often delayed. Reportedly, sports promoting was a specific point of contention in its recommendations.
The Premier League’s decision follows years of government consultations on funding and the longer term of football, which confirmed plans to establish an independent body to oversee various elements of the sport, including sponsors. One other area of concern is the takeover of clubs by individuals or entities accused of human rights violations.
Nonetheless, the Premier League is believed to be resistant to the regulator and is trying to indicate that it could actually oversee itself.
In February, he referred Manchester City, which Deloitte polls say is the world’s highest-grossing football club, to an independent committee over allegations of breaching several of the league’s financial rules.
The club told the BBC in a press release on the time that it was surprised by the allegations, adding it was backed by “an intensive body of irrefutable evidence”.