UKGC Warns Of Premier League Sponsor Rule Change Challenge
Premier League clubs may attempt to get around new rules on shirt sponsorships from betting companies, according to the UK’s Gambling Commission (UKGC).
Key Facts:
- Many PL teams currently feature gambling companies on shirts
- A ban is set to come in for the 2025-26 Premier League season
- Other countries in Europe already have similar restrictions in place to prevent gambling sponsorships in football
- But the UKGC has warned enforcing such a ban could be tricky
From next season, teams in the Premier League will not be allowed to feature a betting firm in a prominent position on the front of their shirts. Over half of Premier League clubs currently have a betting brand or casino site on their shirts so the change is set to have a significant impact.
Some have proven to be controversial with Everton’s shirt sponsor Stake – an Australia-based crypto casino – having withdrawn from the UK market after making a raft of negative headlines.
However, UKGC has pointed out other countries in Europe have similar rules in place and teams have taken measures to circumvent them.
Speaking at the Health and Social Care Committee this week, UKGC director of policy Tim Miller noted how the 2023 Gambling Act review White Paper is still being implemented.
Circumventing Bans
Miller suggested there is work to do to evaluate the impact of the White Paper on sport.
He told MPs: “If you look overseas, for example, where some of these bans on sponsorship have already been in place, Italy and Belgium would be two examples.
“What we’ve seen is actually football clubs finding any opportunity they can to try and circumvent those bans by, for example, no longer having a formal betting sponsor on their shirt, but actually then taking one of those companies’ other brands.”
The Belgian Gambling Commission has already issued clubs such as Anderlecht and Club Brugge with warnings for circumventing gambling rules after a shirt sponsor ban.
In Italy, meanwhile, some clubs have got around the ban by featuring non-gambling brands from betting companies on shirts, therefore still allowing them to be paid by the same firms.
With football clubs often claiming they get the highest offers for shirt sponsorships from betting companies, this is sure to be a hot topic ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Esports Links To Betting
Football is not the only major sport with problematic links to gambling, as Heather Wardle, the University of Glasgow’s professor of gambling research and policy, one of the UK’s top experts on gambling-related harms, told the Health and Social Care Committee.
She said: “We talk about football all the time, it’s not just football, it’s esports.
“For example, we did some research where we looked at the sponsorship of esports teams. 50% of esports teams have gambling sponsors and they have betting partners.”
Wardle went on to note the extent that links between betting companies and esports teams have developed over the past few years without being noted.
She added: “They have their key eSports professionals doing YouTube, TikTok videos, promoting the brands that support their team that obviously has clear appeal to young people, and it’s very overlooked.”
The government may also be tempted to assess esports betting sponsorships as it continues to meet its goal of reforming the UK’s online gambling industry.
