EPL Clubs Agree To Withdraw Gambling Sponsorship From The Front Of Matchday Shirts
English Premier League clubs on Friday, 14 April agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of their matchday shirts.
In a statement, the Premier League said the move came after consultations involving the League, its clubs, and the Government.
The Premier League said the agreement will begin at the end of the 2025/26 season. Reads the statement:
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.
According to research conducted by Dr Darragh McGee of the University of Bath, whose results were published in 2019, “gambling is the worst addiction”.
His findings shared exclusively with the Guardian, include some of the young men telling him they can no longer watch a football match unless they have multiple bets.
They said their football conversations with mates are all about betting, rather than the game. Said McGee:
The study documented the unfolding stories of several young men whose everyday lives are punctuated by deepening social and financial precarity, high-interest payday loans and bank debt, mortgage defaults, family breakdown, and mental health struggles.
In particular, for young men who find themselves deprived of viable routes to employment opportunities, gambling promises an alternative route to wealth, social capital and masculine affirmation, yet most end up ensnared in a cycle of indebtedness.
A total of £14.4bn was lost by people betting in the UK from April 2017 to March 2018, according to figures produced by the Gambling Commission.
More: Pindula News
