The Government is set to ban betting firms from sponsoring football shirts following its review of gambling laws.
The Daily Mail claim that outlawing front-of-shirt logos of gambling companies is almost certain to be one of the proposals included on a white paper to be published this winter.
A wider ban on betting advertising in sport — including pitchside hoardings and TV commercials — is under consideration but is less likely at this stage.
Nine of the 20 Premier League clubs have gambling companies as their front-of-shirt sponsor, as well as another six teams in the Championship. Those deals are estimated to be worth a combined £100million a year. A recent study also found that all but one of the Premier League clubs partner with betting firms in some way, as do 15 Championship sides. Such deals could be allowed to continue with MPs keen to protect the finances of less affluent clubs.
A review of the 2005 Gambling Act was launched by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in December 2020 and the call for evidence closed in March.
The Government’s white paper — a policy document setting out proposals for future legislation — is due to come out at the end of this year or in early 2022.
There will then be a three-month consultation period before the bill goes to Parliament, meaning any changes affecting sports teams are unlikely to come into effect until 2023 at the earliest.
West Ham and Betway extended their partnership for a further six years in 2019 in a deal that is believed to be worth around £10m per year to the club.
That is claimed to be the biggest sponsorship deal outside of the Premier League top six at £60m over the course of the deal though it is dwarfed by some of the monstrous figures those other six clubs earn for their respective sponsorship deals.
West Ham and Betway first joined forces six years ago to replace former main commercial backer, Alpari, the company that collapsed when the it went into liquidation. At the time of signing the new deal, it was believed that Betway would pay the Hammers £20m over three-and-a-half years. That was far more than the Alpari deal, which was worth £3m per year.