By Matthew High
The FA announced last month that it had ended all of its current sponsorship deals with betting companies, which included a long-term agreement with betting giant Ladbrokes.
According to leading online casino news site, Casinopedia, a three-month review into the Football Association’s link with a number of gambling companies concluded with it calling time on its long-standing partnership with betting firms.
This was despite the governing body only signing a deal with Ladbrokes in June last year, which saw the company become its official betting partner.
Rules against players betting come back to haunt FA
The FA had come under criticism for its link with betting companies given its strict rules against players themselves betting. In April the ex-Burnley, Newcastle and QPR midfielder Joey Barton was banned for 18 months for breaching FA betting rules, though FA chief executive Martin Glenn insisted that the decision was unrelated to Barton’s ban.
An FA statement read: “The decision was made following a three-month review of the FA’s approach to it as a governing body taking betting sponsorship, whilst being responsible for the regulation of sports betting within the sport’s rules.
“The FA will continue to work with betting companies, including Ladbrokes, as they play a key role in sharing information on suspect betting patterns and so help in regulating the game.”
Despite the reasons being somewhat apparent, it’s fair to say that the end of the partnership with Ladbrokes was a bold move by the FA. It will result in the organisation losing around £4 million a year in sponsorship revenue but whilst the financial losses could be damaging, it shows just how serious the UK’s Football Association is about ending its business relationship with gambling firms in order to more effectively regulate betting in football.
What about football clubs?
With the FA taking a step away from the betting industry it would have been a fair assumption to make that football clubs themselves would look to ease their sponsorship links with betting companies.
This has not been the case so far, however. Next season more football clubs than ever in both the Premier League and the Football League will be sponsored by betting firms, including the likes of Everton, Newcastle and Aston Villa.
Whilst this raises concerns such as the increased presence of gambling advertisement in the sport in the presence of children, as well as restrictions being in place against young people not being able to wear their teams betting sponsor, it also signifies a sizable difference in policy between football teams and the Football Association.
Whilst the FA has only recently altered its stance on gambling, there has so far been little sign of clubs following in the footsteps of the Association, with a number of teams very recently announcing sponsorship deals with betting firms after the decision by the FA.
Preston has signed an agreement with TempoBet, Norwich and Brentford are being sponsored by LeoVegas and Huddersfield will have the OPE brand printed across its shirts for their first season in the Premier League.
Responsibility on clubs or FA?
Whilst clubs themselves are not the regulators of betting in football like the FA are, they do still have a responsibility to ensure their players do not bet and that they follow the Football Association rules on gambling.
For clubs and betting sponsors alike however, these sponsorships are very valuable. For the club, it provides them with easy sponsorship money whilst giving casino companies the ability to have a key presence in football, a vital market that they must appeal to given the industry competition.
It now appears that football has come to a crossroads. Will the FA’s new policy prevail and football’s relationship with gambling in sponsorship and advertising become less close, or will betting continue to dominate the game?