Bolton Wanderers have supported a campaign aimed at bringing an end to gambling company sponsorship and advertising in professional sport. Currently, the campaign, called Against the Odds, is having negotiations with a range of football clubs and some of its officials have shared hope that the decision of the Horwich-based football club will trigger a nationwide movement.
The campaign has urged all professional football clubs to cut ties with the country’s gambling sector. According to research by Against the Odds, gambling companies’ logos can appear more than 700 times in a single football match, which equals to over six gambling operators’ logos displayed per minute.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, according to estimates provided by Public Health England (PHE), there are over 400 suicides linked to gambling in England on an annual basis. In the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, where the Bolton Wanderers originate from, there are reportedly about 14,000 people who experience serious issues associated with compulsive gambling behaviour, while a further 96,000 experience moderate gambling-related harm.
The chairman of Bolton Wanderers, Sharon Brittan, noted that problem gambling can have a devastating effect on people affected by such addiction, as well as on their families and entire communities. That was exactly why the football club decided to pledge its formal support to the campaign. In 2021, Bolton Wanderers F.C. decided to close the on-site betting facilities at the University of Bolton Stadium and made a commitment to cut its ties with any operators representing the gambling industry through potential sponsorship agreements or commercial partnerships.
Links between Gambling and Football Cause Concerns about Gambling-Related Harm
One of the campaigners of Against the Odds, Michael Viggars, explained that the local gambling sector often regarded responsible gambling but still continued to heavily advertise its services with professional sports clubs, literally covering every square inch of sports stadia. According to him, it is no wonder that an increasing number of British people were getting hooked on gambling and suffering from gambling-related harm. The campaign’s representative said that with Bolton Wanderers leading the way to sever sports clubs’ ties with gambling companies in Greater Manchester and nationwide, they are now hoping to see the decision trigger a movement to eventually end gambling sponsorship deals in sport.
Reportedly, a number of lower league football clubs, including the Tranmere Rovers, have already joined forces with the organisers of a similar campaign headed by The Big Step foundation. James Grimes, who partners with the organisation, hailed the decision of the Boston Wanderers football club.
Mr Grimes said that he was not originally from the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, but the city had changed his life after he moved there in 2018. At the time, he was recovering from a 12-year addiction to gambling, so it was now particularly important for him to see the charter launch of the Against the Odds campaign. He believes that Manchester-based problem gamblers, who are also sports fans, would feel the positive impact of the initiative, which seeks to no longer encourage them to continue doing the thing that had been destroying their lives.
A spokesman for the trade body representing the British gambling industry – the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) – noted that the UK Government had previously published information, according to which there had been no causal link between the development of gambling addiction and exposure to gambling advertising materials. He further noted that both gambling advertising and commercial sponsorship deals are currently required to comply with strict rules, and operators must also make sure to regularly display safer gambling messages.
- Author
Daniel Williams
