In the penultimate year before an incoming ban, clubs have stepped up gambling sponsorship. Image: Brentford FC shop/Everton FC shop/Southampton FC shop/Crystal Palace FC/Nottingham Forest FC/Greg Barradale
Share
Gambling companies will appear as the sponsors of 10 out of 20 Premier League shirts for the new season, despite football clubs voluntarily agreeing to an upcoming ban.
The number of new sponsorship deals, up from seven in the 23-24 season, has led to calls for Labour to fully end gambling sponsorship in football.
Clubs voted for a ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsors, due to come into force in summer 2026. The upcoming season is therefore the penultimate season clubs will be able to display gambling companies on the front of their shirts – although sleeve sponsorships have not been abandoned.
Front-of-shirt sponsorship deals were worth anywhere from £6m to £68m for clubs in 2022-23.
The UK gambling market generated £14.2bn in profit in 2020, with an estimated 2.5% of British adults suffering from problem gambling. Between 117 and 496 excess deaths are estimated to result from problem gambling each year.
Some football fans may be happy that an extra few million pounds can bring a better squad, but there is a chance for clubs to set an example, said David Bevan, a Leicester City season ticket holder who has supported the club for 35 years and co-founded the Fosse Way fan website. His team returns to the Premier League this season with a cryptocurrency online casino blazoned on their shirts.
Advertisement
Advertisement
“The people making decisions about sponsorships at football clubs know the misery that gambling addiction can cause. They’ve heard from people affected and they still choose to take the money,” Bevan told the Big Issue.
“Personally, I like the idea that Leicester City could be different too. Our club could stand up for what is morally right and reject money from companies that are using its name to buy legitimacy. Instead, they’re no better than anyone else responsible for normalising football’s deeply unhealthy relationship with gambling.”
Leicester fan David Bevan believes clubs take sponsorships in full knowledge of the harms of gambling. Image: Supplied
Which Premier League clubs have sponsorship deals with gambling brands?
Aston Villa has not yet officially launched its kit for the new season, but has confirmed that Betano will appear on its shirt. Billed as “Kaizen Gaming’s premium brand”, the online betting company is one of two brands run by the Greek company, and replaces BK8.
Brentford will be using the same kit as in the 23-24 season, with South African company Hollywood Bets as their sponsor.
Crystal Palace have announced Net88 as their sponsor for the new season, replacing used car marketplace Cinch. “Net88 is a global online gaming platform for sports and gaming fans alike, and we’re looking forward to working with them at this exciting time.” said Barry Webber, the club’s chief commercial officer.
Everton’s 24-25 kit is adorned by Stake, a betting company co-owned by rapper Drake.
Newly-promoted Leicester City’s new sponsor BC Game offers the “ultimate crypto slot gaming experience”, through a range of online casino games using Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
Wolves enter the new season with DeBet on the front of their orange shirts. The company is described by the club as “one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing gaming platforms”.
Advertisement
Although AFC Bournemouth have not yet officially unveiled their 24-25 kit, images on the club’s website published Wednesday 17 July show players wearing a kit sponsored by iPRO Hydrate in a behind-closed-doors game against Crystal Palace. The sports drink company appears to replace Dafabet as the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor.
Clubs whose shirts do not feature gambling companies on the front include Ipswich Town, who are sponsored by local singer Ed Sheeran, and Newcastle, who are sponsored by Saudi Arabian firm Sela.
In 2018, then-League One Luton Town made headlines by turning down a gambling sponsorship worth over £500,000.
Scrutiny over gambling sponsorship of Premier League shirts and calls for bans
Keir Starmer’s Labour government has reintroduced the Football Governance Bill, which would introduce an independent regulator for clubs in the country’s top five leagues. Revived in the King’s Speech, the bill will ensure the “financial sustainability” of teams.
“It is clear that football clubs agreed on a voluntary ban on front of shirt gambling sponsors to avoid a possible permanent ban through it being included in the Gambling Act white paper,” said Annie Ashton, whose husband Luke died from gambling-related suicide and who is now studying a PhD on the issue.
“It is shameful that many football clubs, who once proudly promoted community causes, are now taking money from the gambling industry regardless of what gambling addiction does to their fans and their players.
Advertisement
“Gambling addiction is linked to suicide and football clubs should not be walking hand-in-hand with the industry that causes such destruction. It is time to kick gambling advertising out of football.”
Premier League clubs have long-faced scrutiny over deals with Asian-based companies without UK-facing websites, operating through so-called “white label” arrangements with existing UK firms, and criticism that sponsorships are used as a way to reach customers in countries such as China where gambling is banned.
“The Premier League has committed to banning front of shirt sponsors from the 2025-26 season, but the next government could eliminate the vast majority of gambling advertising in football by banning white labels,” said Matt Zarb-Cousin, director of Clean Up Gambling.
“The government should look again at whether gambling advertising should be permitted at all, taking into account the harm the sector is doing to children and the wider population.”
A spokesperson for The Big Step campaign, which is pushing to remove gambling sponsorship from football, said: “These desperate last-minute deals with obscure gambling companies prove that so-called ‘family’ clubs can’t be trusted to protect young fans from gambling exposure and harms. The new Labour government should listen to the overwhelming majority of supporters and end gambling advertising & sponsorship in football.”
