Premier League Clubs Agree To Withdraw Gambling Shirt Sponsors From 25/26 Season

It has long been a criticism aimed at Premier League sides that they are too heavily invested in gambling companies. At one point, more than half of the teams in the English top-flight had a gambling company as their main sponsor.

For those that oppose the influence of gambling in the United Kingdom, it seemed an obvious place to start in attempts to curtail how much betting companies were being advertised in the country. Now, it looks as though they will be getting their way as it has been confirmed that Premier League sides have agreed to stop the practice.

In a statement released on the official website of the organisation, the Premier League announced that clubs have agreed to withdraw gambling sponsors from the front of matchday shirts by the start of the 2025-2026 campaign.

The only question that will be asked by many is whether or not it is too little, too late from the Premier League, with the feeling being that it should be brought in much sooner. There is also a degree of cynicism that the announcement has come ahead of any move from the government to introduce an independent regulator into British football.

What Has Happened

On the 13th of April 2023, the Premier League released a statement onto its official site stating that the clubs that make up the English top-flight had agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of matchday shirts.

It was a collective decision, which tends to mean that a majority of the clubs that act as the Premier League’s shareholders agreed upon the action. It is the first time that a sports league in the United Kingdom has voluntarily decided to reduce gambling advertising. It happened in the wake of an extensive consolation around gambling legislation.

The Premier League has worked alongside the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for the consultation, which is part of the ongoing review of gambling legislation in the UK. On top of that, the Premier League has also said that it will work with other sports in order to come up with a code for responsible gambling sponsorship.

In order to stop clubs from being hit with too much of a transition, the decision was taken for the new rule to come into effect for the start of the 2025-2026 campaign, meaning that gambling shirts will still be allowed for the two seasons prior.

Why The Decision Has Been Taken

The government has been carrying out a review of its gambling legislation for a couple of years now. A white paper is expected to be published on the matter at some point in the coming months, if not weeks. The belief is that the government will move to tighten its regulation on the gambling sector, which means that it might well have moved to ban gambling adverts on football shirts anyway.

Had that happened, it is possible that the ban would have come in sooner than the 2025-2026 campaign, meaning that the Premier League has been able to set its own timetable on something that would’ve been forced on it anyway.

Those that campaign against gambling believe that football as a sport has helped to normalise the world of gambling thanks to the extent to which gambling as a topic is all-pervasive in football matches. The Premier League has previously said on the matter that ‘a self-regulatory approach would provide a practical and flexible alternative to legislation or outright prohibition’.

The interesting thing is what will happen to Championship clubs that are promoted to the Premier League, with the English Football League having previous said that an outright gambling sponsor ban would cost its clubs as much as £40 million a year.

It Isn’t An Outright Ban On Betting Advertising

The important thing to realise is that this will not be an outright ban on betting advertising. Clubs will still be able to feature gambling brands in other areas, which will include shirt sleeve sponsors and advertising on hoardings that run around the pitch.

For critics, that isn’t enough. The Big Step, which is a campaign aimed at ending gambling advertising and sponsorship in football in all forms, have said, “just moving logos to a different part of the kit while allowing pitch-side advertising and league sponsorship to continue is totally incoherent.”

For The Big Step, the key thing is government action on all forms of gambling adverts when it comes to football. They said, “Although this outcome isn’t perfect, it’s a huge step. The government and the sport itself now need to wake up to the reality that gambling ads are unhealthy, unpopular and will be kicked out of football. Delaying that moment is risking the health and lives of another generation of young fans.”

It is certainly the case that allowing gambling adverts elsewhere seems incoherent with the position that the Premier League has taken, it is also something that is unlikely to disappear altogether.

When Aston Villa were linked with an Asian betting firm called BK8 in January, a fan consultation group met with the club’s Chief Executive Officer Christian Purslow. A statement was issued later that said, “The commercial reality is that to teams outside the top six, such sponsors offer clubs twice as much financially as non-gambling companies.”

In other words, gambling is likely to be a part of football until and unless other companies are willing to spend as much money sponsoring teams outside of the traditional ‘big six’. For a CEO like Christian Purslow, money matters more than morals.

Football Influences Kids

At the time of writing, there are eight football clubs that have gambling companies as their main shirt sponsor:

• Bournemouth: Dafabet
• Brentford: Hollywoodbets
• Everton: Stake
• Fulham: W88
• Leeds United: SBOTOP
• Newcastle United: Fun88
• Southampton: Sportsbet
• West Ham United: Betway

Speaking on the matter, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer sent a tweet saying,
“While the vast majority of adults enjoy gambling without harm, we can’t ignore the fact footballers are massive role models to kids. Our upcoming Gambling White Paper will upgrade punter protections & do more to protect those at risk of addiction.”

That sense that football is a sport that has an influence over young people is something that is likely to be leading the desire for gambling to have less of an impact over it moving forward.