The Football League (FL) and English Premier League (EPL) are facing increasing criticism lately, as professional sports franchises in football are being forced to cut their ties with gambling and sports betting companies.
Reportedly, the gambling branding has been described as “honey traps” that seek to lure young football fans into spending money on the services offered by gambling and sportsbook operators. The latest criticism faced by some of the major football leagues in the UK has been triggered by reports that no less than eight professional football clubs are set to partner with popular gambling brands to roll out so-called on-site “Hope Shops” at stadiums across the country.
The first club to announce such plans has been Sheffield F.C. After facing harsh criticism for that, the club has argued that its partnership agreement with one of the most popular gambling operators in the UK – William Hill – is set to offer unmatched in-stadium experiences for football lovers. However, not everyone accepted the partnership and the outlook of the new collaborations between prominent gambling brands and British football clubs as positively.
Recently, two non-governmental organisations – the Big Step and Gambling With Lives – have criticised the newest partnership agreements between gambling brands and professional football clubs and have been issuing warnings about the leniency that has been given to gambling in sports.
Non-Governmental Organisations Remain Concerned about Possible Detrimental Impact of Football’s Association with Gambling
A spokesperson of Gambling With Lives outlined the main dangers that were associated with the establishment of partnerships between professional football clubs and gambling operators in the UK. The representative of the charity organisation shared a position that such collaborations were nothing more than a cynical way to lure football lovers into gambling, saying that such partnerships could make gambling brands look particularly attractive to underage individuals who might not be able to separate their favourite club from gambling.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, the number of gambling-related suicides in the UK is currently around 500 every year. The fact that the planned gambling market’s re-regulation has already been delayed several times while gambling advertising has proliferated across the country has made non-governmental organisations even more concerned about the detrimental impact gambling could have on sports fans.
The calls for eliminating the links between gambling operators and professional football clubs across the country have been backed by some politicians, who believe it was high time for the Government to take stricter measures and tackle the negative effects that have been faced by society as a result of gambling.
The EPL had previously unveiled an idea for the voluntary exclusion of gambling partnership agreements but the proposal was quickly left behind after it became clear that the Government’s White Paper was going to be delayed because of a recent faux pas.
Gill Furniss, a Sheffield Member of Parliament, joined and noted that families that have suffered the death of a loved one as a result of a gambling-related suicide should be enough to make Sheffield FC and William Hill remove gambling products’ imagery and branding. Ms Furniss has called for the UK Government to take further action and make sure no association between gambling adverts and branding is created for millions of young people and sports lovers.
- Author
Olivia Cole
