Premier League clubs will vote to voluntarily ban gambling sponsorship

This might be a bit awkward for Everton, given they've only recently signed a deal with a betting partner?

The Premier League clubs are ready to agree to a voluntary ban on shirt sponsorship by betting companies but subject to certain conditions and a transition period.

The proposal is to be discussed at a Premier League shareholders’ meeting next week and club sources have told The Times that there is enough support for it to be passed — it needs agreement from 14 of the 20 top-flight teams to go through.

The clubs are expected to take the action to fend off the threat of the government bringing in legislation that would make shirt sponsorship by betting firms illegal. It is understood that ministers are not looking at similar action for clubs in the EFL due to the financial hardship it would cause.

None of the ‘big six’ clubs have gambling shirt sponsors at the moment but seven of the 20 teams do, with Nottingham Forest and Fulham still to confirm their shirt deals after promotion.

However, the 20 clubs are expected to delay any vote until September when the political picture is clearer. The government has postponed a white paper on gambling reform until a successor to Boris Johnson takes over as prime minister.

The clubs will however insist that the voluntary ban would only affect front-of-shirt sponsorship deals and not sleeve deals. They would also want it to be phased in over three seasons so that those clubs who already have deals in place are not directly affected.

There is also expected to be pressure from the top-flight clubs that the voluntary ban is recognised by government as likely to cause a financial dip and that it should be taken into account in the negotiations over the amount of money the Premier League should give to the EFL.

One club executive said that betting companies often were the most lucrative sponsorship partners and the quickest for newly promoted clubs to secure deals with, and that agreeing to drop them would mean a likely income cut of £5 million to £10 million per season.

Newcastle United are understood to be planning to drop Fun88 as their shirt sponsor at the end of next season and are not planning to seek another betting company. However, Everton announced a club record “multi-year” deal with gambling company Stake.com in June, reportedly worth more than £10 million a season, two years after their chief executive said that “in an ideal world” they wouldn’t have a betting firm on their shirts.

Source: The Times

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