Advertisements Of Sports Betting Companies In Football and Other Sports
Nowadays, advertisements of the sponsors play an important role in sports. During both major and most important sports events, such as World Cup or European Championships in football, and smaller ones, such as league games. But not only in that discipline. Advertisements are ubiquitous in every sports discipline around the world: Boxing, Basketball, Baseball, Winter Sports, etc.
The bet of the day picked by experts featured prominently in these advertisements, capitalizes on the heightened emotions and engagement of fans during such events. By leveraging the credibility of ‘experts’, these ads aim to attract viewers, especially during high-profile football matches and other sports tournaments. However, it raises concerns about promoting excessive gambling and its impact, particularly on vulnerable groups like young fans.
Ban Of Advertising Sports Betting Companies On Football Shirts In Premier League
In April of 2023, all Premier League Clubs agreed to drop advertising betting companies in front of their shirts, to reduce marketing of gambling business on their match days. The ban on sponsoring from these companies in the front of shirts will come into effect since the 2025/2026 season.
The announcement was made after a meeting between clubs of the league and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also known, that the Premier League is also working on with other sports disciplines on the code addressing responsible sponsorship of sports betting companies. The list supporting that move was signed by over 100 people affected by the problem of gambling. A former footballer – Keith Gilespie, who also struggled with gambling addiction in the past, also supports the anti-gambling campaign, “The Big Step”.
Gambling advertising provides significant profits to the football industry. Sponsorship agreements contribute approximately £100 million annually to clubs, and broadcasters allocate around £200 million for this purpose. An end to the practice of placing sponsorship ads on the front of soccer uniforms and a general reduction in their proliferation in advertisements, whether on television or on banners can result in a drop in funding for club operations, reduced money for player transfers and cost-cutting for the players themselves, who get a share of the revenue from advertising these companies on shirts.
Pros And Cons Of Marketing Betting Services
Now we will take a closer look at the benefits and shortcomings of advertising betting companies in sports spaces, such as equipment, stadiums, outfits and banners.
Pros:
- Advertisements of sports betting services can draw the viewer’s attention to an event, which can have an impact on the viewership of the broadcast.
- Thanks to cooperation with various football clubs, betting services can gain popularity around the world. Thanks to this, their brand can be brilliantly promoted, which will increase the number of potential players.
- Some sports betting companies get involved in charitable activities by being their sponsors. For example, they organize auctions of jerseys of various teams, thus collecting money that is donated to worthy causes.
Cons:
- Children can be exposed to the gambling world very early, and can create a false truth, that with betting, they can support their favourite athletes and teams.
- Advertising sports betting services can contribute to the growing problem of gambling addiction which can lead to bankruptcy or debts, like casino games.
- The promotion of betting in sports can increase suspicions of result manipulation and compromise the integrity of sports by potentially facilitating corruption.
The following article briefly discussed the phenomenon of advertising buckmahers’ bets and the dangers they can bring. In a few years, the Premier League will be one of the first in the world to do away with advertising these services on shirts. This is a first step toward a more responsible approach to gambling, protecting younger fans from exposure to gambling content, and making sports fans better aware that gambling, even in the case of sports betting, can sometimes become a difficult problem to solve.
