New report finds 51 gambling sponsorship deals in top-flight English sports

The study looked at top-flight men’s football, cricket and rugby.

UK.- Gambling sponsorship remains in the spotlight as the UK government works to complete its review of gambling legislation. Now a new report has highlighted the extent of sponsorship deals in top-flight English sports.

The sponsorship intelligence business Caytoo found 51 sponsorship deals in a study of 135 top-flight clubs in men’s football, cricket and rugby in England. They include two league-wide arrangements (Betfred for rugby league’s Super League and Sky Bet’s sponsorship of the English Football League (EFL).

The report notes that in 55 per cent of the agreements, a gambling logo is present on shirts – 39 per cent in the main front position of the shirt and 16 per cent in other locations, such as the sleeve, shorts or on training equipment.

Football accounted for the lion’s share of the deals at 45, while cricket accounted for six deals. The report noted that 77 per cent of teams in England’s top two football leagues have a gambling sponsor, while four teams – Newcastle United, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Huddersfield Town – each have three gambling sponsors.

In August 2022, gambling businesses were the second-most prevalent category of sponsor after car makers. That’s higher than in the last three years, which had seen a decline in gambling sponsorship.

Aston Villa to go ahead with BK8 sponsorship deal

Despite opposition from fans, Aston Villa will go ahead with a sponsorship deal with BK8. According to the Aston Villa Fans Consultation Group (FCG), the business will replace Cazoo on the Premier League team’s shirts for three seasons.

BK8 has previously sponsored Crystal Palace, Burnley and Huddersfield, but a deal with Norwich City was cut short just three days in because of controversy about the use of sexually provocative images of women.

The FCG said: “While some fans will be disappointed after Villa’s current front-of-shirt sponsor moved away from gambling companies, the commercial reality is that to teams outside the top six, such sponsors offer clubs twice as much financially as non-gambling companies.”

Reform advocates have been campaigning for an end to gambling sponsorship arrangements. The Premier League had proposed a voluntary ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship in a bid to head off a possible ban on all deals.

See also: Scottish Parliament report recommends restrictions on gambling ads