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Betting Sponsorship To Be Banned For UK Premier League Soccer Teams

The UK premier League have got both fat and complacent after years of receiving easy money from the betting industry. And now the UK government is under pressure to really act over the rising number of problem gamblers. After looking through the Gambling Act of 2004, they have decided to implement a plan which will ban sponsorship from the front of players football shirts. As you can imagine the UK Premiership just had kittens at the thought of all that lovely sponsorship mullah disappearing.

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Betting Sponsorship To Be Banned For UK Premier League

In recent days the UK government has decided, as part of their review of the Gambling Act 2005, to remove ads from the front of shirts worn by footballers in the English Premier League. Over the last decade or so, we have seen huge sums of money coming from the betting industry to support major UK football clubs. Of the 20 top teams in the English Premier League, 9 of them have company betting sponsorship deals with front of shirt logos. Right now, the government seems determined to change that relationship. This follows on the heels of the recent credit card ban.

Say Goodbye To Betting Sponsorship

The government has promised to publish a White Paper with proposals stemming from its review of the Gambling Act 2005. This will probably come at either the end of this year, 2021 or early 2022. According to a report from Sportsmail, on the list of new proposals is one that would ban betting sponsorship agreements between the betting companies and soccer teams completely. Interestingly enough, the government will still allow betting operators to advertise. These can be as TV Commercials and also on the pitch side advertising hoardings. If you’re a fan of football betting and are looking for sites with Toto jackpots, then we suggest that you visit 22Bet Sportsbook. They cover all soccer betting market places. And they also offer all new players a great welcome bonus of 122% up to €100!

Big Change For UK Soccer Is Coming

Over 45% of of the Premier League’s teams have front of shirt betting sponsorship deals with betting operators. This includes Brentford, Newcastle United, West Ham United, Watford and Leeds United. In fact, in some form or other, all teams apart from one have some form of betting deal. But those who oppose gambling in the UK suggest that cutting the ties between football and gambling could lead to less gambling addiction. As well as the social problems it can bring. James Grimes who’s the founder of that Big Step Campaign, welcomed the news of a potential ban. He says that it’s “the significant acceptance of the harm caused by gambling industry in football.” Not surprisingly, he went on to suggest that the government should ban all types of betting. Both being displayed at the match and via TV and internet advertisements.

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Sports Betting Sponsorship Will Effect Teams

As you’d expect the gambling industry is not taking this news lying down. In typical fashion, the gambling industry doesn’t address the underlying problem which the government is trying to solve. But rather they talk about how gambling advertising has provided the Premier League with much-needed revenue. Unsurprisingly, the football league is a little worried should they lose the goose that lays the golden eggs. After all, that’s their football jackpot. Of course all the football betting market places would remain, which would include online Toto sites.

But without advertising, it will be harder to attract new players. Of course, the English Premier League officials have suggested there is no link between problem gambling and betting sponsorship. They have suggested that the government wait until implementing it’s new bans. This would give the Premier League time to look for alternative sources to make up for the lost sponsorship funding.

Looking To Ban White Labelling

Finally we should point out that Members of Parliament are presently looking at “white label” deals. This is a betting sponsorship system that allows overseas betting companies to make deals with UK Premier League football clubs. In many ways this is a legal “workaround.” It allows these betting operators to market the club’s shirts with their betting sponsorship logos. As well as pitch side advertisements in countries where sports betting is illegal.

It’s true that today there’s a big squeeze on gamblers. But it’s going to be difficult to strike the right balance between looking after a minority who have a social problem with gambling, compared to watching Premier League clubs struggle to find funding. Without the industry’s betting sponsorship deals, the smaller cubs will struggle to maintain and evolve. The money from sports gamblers and those hoping to win the jackpot online will still continue to flow into the betting operators, like 22Bet Sportsbook. It just will be going to the teams themselves.