Poll: Are shirt sponsorships set to become a thing of the past?

Football’s relationship with gambling was thrust back under the microscope last week, with the Labour Party pledging to ban football clubs from signing sponsorship deals with gambling companies to tackle a ‘hidden epidemic’ of addiction.

The policy, unveiled by deputy leader Tom Watson, is part of a plan to protect children from early exposure to gambling.

Watson said Labour would seek a ban implementation from the Football Association but the party would be prepared to legislate if necessary.

The news caused some to predict the demise of shirt sponsorships even without an outright ban, with the increased scrutiny, combined with the saturation of such sponsorships, meaning the juice is no longer worth the squeeze.

12BET marketing consultant Rory Anderson told EGR: “A ban was always the danger and you have to question who benefits from all these sponsorship deals when there are three or four betting firms at each club.

“The brands are not seeing the value they saw three or four years ago, and yet they are paying more and it’s also not reflecting well on the clubs.

Nine Premier League teams currently play with a gambling company on their shirt.

But there is also a case to be made that the Labour Party is barking up the wrong tree. Many Premier League shirt sponsors are Asia-facing and not even available to UK customers.

Likewise, the sheer amount of money flowing from gambling to football clubs suggests there would be some strong pushback from the clubs themselves.

With that in mind, this week we ask whether the external pressures will start to tell, and we see bookmaker shirt sponsorships become a thing of the past, or is this just another temporary blip in the close relationship between bookies and sport?

Have your say below.

Poll: Are shirt sponsorships set to become a thing of the past? Context: https://t.co/bmyEudX3Ln

— EGR Global (@EGRIntel) September 11, 2017