The UK has seen a decline in gambling companies’ football sponsorships for the first time in years. Currently, there are only 19 football clubs from the country’s top-level divisions (the Premier League and the EFL Championship) to use a gambling operator as a main sponsor. Among them is the Reading Football Club whose footballers’ shirts are decked with the logo of the UKGC-regulated casino operator Casumo.
This corresponds to roughly 43% of the overall number of top-division clubs on British soil. It is the lowest percentage since the 2016-2017 season, which saw a total of 18 football teams, or 41%, to sign shirt sponsorships with gambling firms.
By contrast, as many as 27 of the country’s clubs were sponsored by locally licensed betting companies during the previous season. This means 2020/2021 is the first season since 2013 to see a decline in the number of gambling shirt sponsorships in comparison with the previous season. During the last three seasons, betting companies accounted for at least half of the sponsorships of the football clubs from the country’s two top-level divisions.
The 2017-2018 season saw 50% of gambling sponsorships with 22 clubs. As many as 26 teams were sponsored by betting firms during the 2018-2019 season, or approximately 59%. A peak in betting sponsorships was observed during the 2019-2020 season when 27 clubs, or 61%, were adorned with the logos of gambling brands.
To draw a further comparison, a decade or so ago only 10 football teams from the EFL Championship and the English Premier League wore the logos of betting firms on their shirt fronts. This number remained the same during the following 2011-2012 season. Then it declined to 8 in 2012-2013. The 2013-2014 season saw the lowest number of betting sponsorships in the two top divisions, with only 5 teams wearing gambling-branded shirts.
Betting Sponsorships’ Increase in Recent Years Has Given Rise to Controversy
After 2013-2014, the betting sponsorships increased in number each season up until now. They doubled from 9 to 18 during seasons 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 alone. The increase in this type of sponsorship has given rise to controversy in recent years, with betting opponents arguing that gambling is becoming the norm on the local football scene.
Just this summer, the members of a House of Lords Select Committee insisted that teams that compete in the English Premier League should be disallowed from wearing the logos of gambling companies on their shirt fronts. The Committee members also proposed to altogether discontinue such sponsorships on the shirts of Championship teams by the year 2023. Teams from other sport types should also quit wearing such shirts in three years, the Committee suggested.
Not everyone shares this view, however. The English Football League expressed the opposite opinion and argued against the ban on betting advertising. According to the EFL, the gambling sector has contributed the substantial amount of £40 million to its teams, helping the league to sustain itself financially.
Betting sponsorships are essential for the economic needs of professional football in the country, the EFL argued. In an official statement, the EFL expressed its belief that the UK authorities, sports organisations, and the gambling sector can all work in unison to make sure such sponsorships are handled responsibly. Some of the top-level football teams sponsored by betting firms include West Ham United (Betway), Bristol City (MansionBet), and Derby County (32Red).
- Author
Daniel Williams
