Trends & Features

New proposal on Premier League club sponsorship to encourage responsible online casino gaming

With the increasingly competitive nature of the Premier League, clubs need to bolster their roster to remain at the top of the game. One of the ways is scouting for talent across the globe in which the right player may command a significant transfer fee. Due to the increase in player transfer fees and associated costs, football teams automatically opt for companies willing to fork out more money in sponsorship deals.

In the 2022/2023 season, eight Premier League teams had gambling corporates on their shirts. Bournemouth, West Ham, Brentford, Southampton, Everton, Newcastle, Fulham, and Leeds are some of the squads whose collective value of their contracts is worth an estimated £60m per year.

Whether it’s Betway, Fun88, or Sportsbet.io, football fans may have come across different betting and casino sites as they support their teams. These sites aim to market themselves to attract players to their online casino gaming collection with games like slots and live dealer games. At the end of the day, the partnership aims to benefit both parties but the question that remains is does it support responsible betting?

Though football squads benefit from sponsorship deals and the populace embraces online casinos, various lobby groups have a different view. The groups believe the UK government needs to ‘step in’ to regulate betting company sponsorships with clubs.

Betting firms’ sponsorships will no longer feature on teams’ shirts. However, the companies’ brands will still appear on shirt sleeves and LED advertising within stadiums from the 2026/2027 season. This decision has rubbed lobby and trust groups’ shoulders the wrong way.

Big Step, a vocal campaign group, insists the UK’s football brand should be entirely separated from bookmakers’ advertising and sponsorship. The campaign group cites how gambling firms affect the young population in terms of fuelling addiction and poor financial management.

Aston Villa inked a three-year deal with BK8, while Fulham and Burnley have one-year partnerships with SBOTOP and W88. Big Step called the deals ‘short-sighted’ in a statement issued.

In response, a Premier League spokesperson mentioned that it is the first sports league in the UK actualising voluntary measures to curb gambling advertising. He also pointed out that the gambling partners sponsoring clubs are regulated and licensed by the Gambling Commission and follow the rules of the Advertising Standards Authority.

Most online casino platforms have integrated responsible gambling into their systems. Such measures include gambling with money one can afford to lose, taking breaks, and setting limits on time and money.

The Betting and Gambling Council mentioned that many of the 22.5 million monthly UK bettors do so ‘safely and responsibly.’ At 0.3% of the UK’s adult population, the Council added that the ‘rate of problem gambling remains low by international standards.’ The Premier League acknowledged working with other sports to develop a code to promote ‘responsible’ gambling.

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