Football could face a ban on sponsorship from gambling companies
With the current Gambling Act being reviewed by the Government, there are reports that football sponsorship may come under intense scrutiny, with a possible ban on any sponsorships from gambling operators.
Effects of a ban on sponsorship
For years, we’re used to seeing betting company names displayed across the shirts of our favourite football teams, but that may soon come to an end. From as early as Autumn 2021, a ban on gambling sponsorship could come into force.
Campaigners in support of the ban, claim that around 75% of local people would support the ban on gambling advertising on football shirts, but there is concern from both the gambling industry and football leagues. If the ban were to come into place, football clubs in the English Premier League and Championship League alone, would lose around £110million every year.
In the current climate, where the Covid pandemic has wreaked havoc on sporting fixtures, and industries are already losing out on millions from lost spectators, merchandise and sponsorships, a ban on gambling advertising could be devastating.
Football and Gambling
MP Carolyn Harris, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling harm, said she hoped that common sense would prevail over greed, and that gambling sponsorships weren’t the only option when it came to football sponsorships.
She also was very vocal about the recent scandal with SkyBet and their ‘commentary bingo’, whereby viewers were able to place bets on which words or phrases the pundits would use during the football games. This was abandoned after a backlash on twitter, with complaints being made that it was irresponsible to encourage such betting, especially when it could be so easily rigged. Even Gary Linekar waded in on the row, questioning how football had become so ‘beholden’ to the gambling industry.
It is thought the overhaul of the current gambling legislation will be completed, with a white paper of recommendations, around the end of summer this year.
