The Premier League has announced that clubs will be banned from advertising gambling companies on the front of their shirts from the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
Eight of the 20 clubs in the division have gambling sponsors on the front of their shirts, including three – Bournemouth, Everton and Fulham – who agreed new deals with those partners before the start of 2022-23.
The other five clubs who currently have betting companies on their shirts are Brentford, Leeds, Newcastle, Southampton and West Ham, while others including Wolves, have gambling-related sleeve sponsors.
A three-year period has been put in place to enable clubs to “transition away” from their existing gambling partnerships.
The league said: “Premier League clubs have today collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of clubs’ matchday shirts, becoming the first sports league in the UK to take such a measure voluntarily in order to reduce gambling advertising.
“The announcement follows an extensive consultation involving the League, its clubs and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of the Government’s ongoing review of current gambling legislation.
“The Premier League is also working with other sports on the development of a new code for responsible gambling sponsorship.
“To assist clubs with their transition away from shirt-front gambling sponsorship, the collective agreement will begin at the end of the 2025-26 season.”
It has been reported that the government’s white paper on gambling reforms, first mooted in December 2020, will finally be released at the end of April.
Legislation on the gambling industry has been virtually non-existent since the Gambling Act of 2005, introduced before the advancement of smartphones, which has made gambling online significantly more accessible.
The campaign group Gambling With Lives welcomed the decision as a “huge step” but called for other forms of gambling sponsorship in football such as pitch-side advertising and competitions sponsorship, such as the Sky Bet EFL, to also be prohibited.
Gambling With Lives said: “Today’s announcement is a significant acceptance of the harm caused by gambling sponsorship. No gambling ads are seen more than those on Premier League shirts, worn by billions around the world.
“But just moving logos to a different part of the kit while allowing pitch-side advertising and league sponsorship to continue is totally incoherent.
“Without government action on all forms of gambling ads in football, at every level, online casinos will exploit any voluntary measures and continue to market their products through our national sport.
“Although this outcome isn’t perfect, it’s a huge step. Just over three years ago, there were nearly 30 clubs in the top two divisions with a gambling advert on the front of their shirt – with today’s announcement, we are getting closer to when that will be 0. This undeniable progress shows that the hard-fought argument – led by people with lived experience – has been won.
“The government and the sport itself now need to wake up to the reality that gambling ads are unhealthy, unpopular and will be kicked out of football. Delaying that moment is risking the health and lives of another generation of young fans.”
The prevalence of gambling sponsorship within football came to the fore in March when Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney accepted some of the 262 charges against him for breaching the Football Association’s betting rules.
Toney has played most of his football in the EFL, which has been sponsored by Sky Bet since 2012 and worn shirts bearing the logos of gambling companies throughout his professional career.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/1rHbKc0
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