The English Football League (EFL) has told the government that a ban on gambling sponsorships could force clubs out of business. 

It follows last week’s House of Lords select committee report which called for a ban on gambling shirt sponsorships in the English Premier League (EPL) from next season, and a complete ban on gambling partnerships by 2023. In June, MPs also published a report making similar recommendations. 

Illustrating how important gambling deals are to English football, in the top-flight a full 50% of Premier League clubs are currently relying on gambling firms as their main shirt sponsors, bringing in much-needed revenue. 

In the EFL too, many clubs rely on gambling sponsorships to remain financially viable. In fact, as the EFL has pointed out, during the ongoing COVID-19 triggered economic crisis, clubs are becoming more reliant than ever on money from such deals. 

An EFL spokesperson said:

“The Covid-19 pandemic represents perhaps the biggest challenge to the finances of EFL clubs in their history.

“With over £40 million a season paid by the sector to the League and its clubs, the significant contribution betting companies make to the ongoing financial sustainability of professional football at all levels is as important now as it has ever been.

“The League firmly believes a collaborative, evidence-based approach to preventing gambling harms that is also sympathetic to the economic needs of sport will be of much greater benefit than the blunt instrument of blanket bans.

“It is our belief that sports organisations can work with Government and the gambling industry to ensure partnerships are activated in a responsible fashion.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Everything is coming down to the simple “you can’t have your cake and eat it.” On one hand, the general public, media and political mood in the UK is clearly increasingly anti-gambling and would support bans. But, on the other hand, the gambling industry is one of the few that is still prospering and can afford to sponsor clubs.

However, pragmatism and logic seems to be all but absent from British politics and mainstream media these days, so we fully expect bans to be implemented, regardless of the problems it causes for clubs and fans alike.  

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