Paddy Power ends Irish TV football sponsorship

Paddy Power has ceased its sponsorship of live football on RTÉ ahead of the Irish Bookmakers Association’s new whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling ads.

Ireland.- Flutter Entertainment’s Paddy Power has confirmed that it has ended its sponsorship deal with the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ. It will no longer sponsor the broadcaster’s live coverage of 2021/2022 international men’s football matches.

RTÉ received a six-figure sum for the sponsorship deal, which included the right to display the Paddy Power logo on the screen during games. Paddy Power said the deal had been ended through mutual agreement.

This decision comes ahead of the introduction of the Irish Bookmakers Association’s (IBA) whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling advertising on January 1. The ban is part of a new voluntary code of conduct announced in September amid calls for stricter regulations on gambling in Ireland.

The ban will be similar to that adopted by operators in the UK, lasting from five minutes before a sporting event starts to five minutes afterwards. It covers field-side LEDs and other forms of marketing as well as broadcast ads. It does not affect horseracing or greyhound racing.

Paddy Power said: “Paddy Power doesn’t just support the incoming whistle-to-whistle ban as a company, we have already taken a market-leading position on this intervention.

“We also moved to use all existing slots available to us pre and post-match to exclusively promote our ‘Take A Break’ Safer Gambling tool during Ireland’s final four matches in the Men’s [FIFA] World Cup Qualifiers.”

See also: Irish gambling bill proposes ban on free bets and credit card gambling