Norwich City FC rules out future gambling sponorships

“Never again,” says the relegated football club’s commercial director, Sam Jeffrey.

UK.- With the Premier League preparing to vote on whether to ban front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship, one former Premiership team has already made up its mind. Norwich City, which will compete in the EFL in the new season, has ruled out gambling sponsorship in the future.

Commercial director Sam Jeffrey said the club would “never again” sign a shirt sponsorship deal with a betting company, but said the club was in favour of self-regulation. The club has signed a deal with local car manufacturer Lotus Cars for the next season.

Jeffrey said: “There were some opportunities specifically in the betting space. These opportunities derived a higher partnership fee as is the case in industries such as betting. However, we believe this is the time, as a board and club-wide decision, to almost self-regulate when it comes to betting on the front of our shirts.

“So, certainly with the club in its current structure, we will never again have a betting brand on the front of our shirts.”

He added: “We always had an interest in working with Lotus – and weighed that up against a significant betting offer and we believe that this is the right time to self-regulate.

“Commercially there was a decision to make. There is higher revenue derived from betting on the front of the shirt. That is in the hundreds of thousands in the Championship – almost certainly in the millions in the Premier League. But it doesn’t outweigh the potential loss in revenue in having a betting sponsor.”

The Premier League is to hold a vote in September on its plan to phase out front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship in an attempt to avoid a complete ban on all forms of advertising. The league plans to keep sponsorship in other places, including on shirt sleeves. The proposal will need the support of 14 out of the league’s 20 teams to go ahead, but most are expected to approve the proposal.

It’s believed that Chris Philp, the last DCMS minister responsible for the UK government’s overview of gambling legislation, was open to the proposal. However, it’s not clear whether the new incumbent Damian Collins or his eventual successor following the Conservative Party leadership election will receive the proposal. Boris Johnson was at one stage believed to be in favour of a ban on gambling sponsorship in football, but he’s now resigned as prime minister.

This week, The Big Step campaign called for Premier League clubs to scrap betting sponsorships completely.

The group insisted that it is not against gambling and does not aim to “completely end the relationship between gambling and football”. However, it said that gambling “should not be promoted, especially in a globally-adored league where young people make up a quarter of the audience”.

In an open letter to the league, it also expressed disappointment at further delays to the UK’s review of gambling legislation due to the Tory leadership contest.