More than half of Premier league clubs will have betting companies as their front-of-shirt sponsors next season despite calls to ban them.
Eleven teams now advertise gambling companies on the front of their shirts – up from eight last season.
A voluntary agreement was made last April to ban the practice, but this isn’t due to come into effect for another two years.
Profit before people
The latest club to announce such a deal is Bournemouth. It’s new “record breaking” contract with Asian betting company bj88 is reported to be worth more than double the amount offered by non-betting companies.
Tony Bloom, owner of South-East rivals Brighton, endorsed the ban. He said: “gambling companies pay best so it’s a difficult decision for clubs to turn them down.”
Luton Town is the only English Football League club who do not show betting adverts on their shirt, stadium, and league games. It cost them approximately three million pounds last season.
Addictive and harmful
A spokesman from The Big Step, a campaign dedicated to removing gambling advertising in football said: “greed does not justify exposing millions of young fans to addictive and harmful products.
“The government must follow the lead of multiple European countries and end gambling advertising and sponsorship in football.
He added: “Premier League clubs must know that gambling harms are a serious public health issue that destroys many lives in their communities and around the world, yet continue to blindly sign these desperate deals for a few extra quid”.
Count the cost
As many as 1.3 million people in Britain were classed as ‘problem gamblers’ according to 2023 data from the Gambling Commission.
The Premier League said it was “working with other sports on the development of a new code for responsible gambling sponsorship”.
Online gambling crackdown set to tackle addictive features
Ex-Scotland manager: ‘The shame and lies of gambling convinced me to finally stop’