Premier League clubs have agreed to remove gambling companies as their shirt sponsors from the 2025/26 season.
Eight top-flight clubs currently have gambling companies as shirt-front sponsors, with an estimated value of £60m per annum, although none of the ‘big six’ clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham) do, while Newcastle and Fulham are expected to remove theirs at the end of the current campaign once their existing sponsorship deals expire.
Gambling within football has become a hot topic, with Ivan Toney, the Brentford striker whose club are currently sponsored by Hollywood Bets, reported to be facing a ban of up to six months after being charged with a total of 262 breaches of the Football Association’s gambling laws that date back to 2017.
The Times reported that 18 of the 20 Premier League clubs agreed to the new proposal – which will see shirt-front gambling sponsors banned but sleeve deals and LED advertising around the ground still permitted – with the other two teams abstaining.
The delay until 2025/26 in enforcing the ban is to allow existing sponsorship deals to be honoured and new gambling deals can also be struck until the new rules commence.
A Premier League statement confirmed the ban, saying: “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.”
The UK government had been mooting bringing in legislation to ban gambling sponsorship and this move by the clubs is thought to have been agreed in order to stop a complete moratorium.
A government white paper on gambling is due to be published shortly but ministers have signalled it will not include shirt sponsorship restrictions if the voluntary agreement was reached.
Gambling partners of Premier League clubs are already regulated and licensed by the Gambling Commission and are required to adhere to the rules of the Advertising Standards Authority and gambling companies have proven to be some of the most lucrative sponsorship partners for clubs.