How Much Do Premier League Clubs Actually Make From Gambling Revenue?
The gamblification of football
Much has been spoken about the ‘gamblification’ of football, and there have been repeated attempts to separate the sport from the gambling process, but are Premier League Clubs the benefactors of gambling, or is it just something that happens in the background? There is certainly no lack of name-checking and use of football imagery. The relationship between football and gambling appears symbiotic; however, is it just commercial opportunism, or are there deeper commercial ties and kickbacks?
Match fixing in the news
Last week, BBC Radio 5 Live aired new episodes of its podcast “Sports Strangest Crimes”, titled “Confessions of a Match Fixer”, telling the story of Moses Swaibu and how he went from being Crystal Palace’s Young Player of the Year to being at the centre of an organised crime group rigging matches and making vast sums of money betting on the results.
While the action took place in the lower divisions of the English league system, it was not a small-scale operation. Millions of pounds were made in the league in which Swaibu operated, and it is estimated that the worldwide criminal enterprise involved in match-fixing was worth £85 billion in 2015.
The BBC podcast explains how the syndicates groom and manipulate professional footballers and how the chain of command works. The organisations went to extraordinary levels to evade detection, and a strict chain of command ensured that the system ‘worked’. Much of the betting went on in Asia, and the footballers simply had to ‘throw the match’. This was not always as easy as it sounds.
The podcast producers say Moses showed incredible bravery to speak out and uncover the betrayals and chaos of this brutal industry. While plenty of people who enjoy football also like to have a punt on the game, the clubs and the players are not supposed to be involved in gambling.
In February this year, ex-Everton footballer Li Tie received a lifetime prison sentence for match-fixing, which he admitted to doing when he was head coach of Hebei China Fortune and Wuhan Zall. He said that he had ‘resorted to influencing referees, opposing players and coaches and sometimes through clubs’ in order to achieve good performances. He went on to become head of the Chinese national team, but in November 2022, he was placed under investigation for ‘serious violations of laws’ by a Chinese anti-corruption agency.
How do football and gambling intertwine?
It is safe to say that UK Premier League clubs and players maintain an arms-length distance between themselves and any direct involvement in the business of gambling. It is essential that they cannot be accused of profiting from people betting on the outcome of betting. However, as anyone who has watched Premier League football will be more than aware, the clubs do make money from gambling, just in an indirect way.
While they do not receive a cut of money wagered, they do earn from sponsorship and advertising with the gambling companies. Premier League clubs have front-of-shirt sponsorships with betting and online casino brands. The sponsors and clubs can argue that this keeps fans informed rather than encouraging them to place bets on the games themselves. Affiliate sites have also popped up as an alternative way to show UK punters how to find the best UK online casino, however, we are yet to see these advertised on football shirts at this moment in time. While some question the efficacy of gambling sponsorship on shirts, we will have to wait and see if any tangible changes are made.
The Financial Times estimates this sponsorship is valued at around £60 million. The clubs have voted for a voluntary ban on betting firms being able to be shirt sponsors, but this will not come into effect until 2026. However, whenever it comes into force, there will potentially be a huge financial gap for these clubs to make up.
The clubs who will be looking to replace their sponsorship deals include:
– Aston Villa has confirmed Betano will appear on its shirt. Betano is Kaizen Gaming’s premium brand and one of two run by this Greek company.
– Brentford will continue with its 23-24 season sponsor with South African Hollywoods Bets adorning their shirts.
– Crystal Palace has replaced car marketplace Cinch with Net88. The club’s chief commercial operator, Barry Webber, describes Net88 as an online gaming platform for spots and gaming fans alike.
– West Ham is sponsored by Maltese-founded and Guernsey-based Super Group’s Betway.
– Wolves orange shirts will carry the insignia of DeBet, one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing gaming platforms.
– Bournemouth, Everton, Fulham, Leicester City, Southampton, and West Ham make up the rest of the Premier League that have a betting sponsor on the front of their shirts and will need to be looking for alternatives toBJ88, Stake, SBO Top, BC Game, Rollbit, and DE Bet.
While calls for betting to be kicked out of sport are being heard, some alternatives are no less controversial. Newcastle’s deal with Saudi Arabian firm Sela is not without its critics, and others are unhappy about Ed Sheeran’s sponsorship of Ipswich Town, but that one is really about musical differences. Luton Town hit the headlines when it turned down a gambling deal worth over half a million pounds.
UK laws for a market with global reach
However, the gambling partnerships are not just on the front of shirts; they extend to pitch-side advertising, and the clever tech translates those ads into different languages for overseas broadcasts. It is a very sophisticated ‘machine’ that weaves football and betting into one seemingly seamless outfit.
While the companies are UK registered and obliged to operate in accordance with the principles of the UK Gambling Commission, it is impossible to trace the impact of these sponsorships on behaviour outside of the UK and Ireland. However, every bet placed outside the UK has a digital footprint, and the companies can link advertising to payments and measure success. Gambling markets in the Far East dwarf those of Europe, and gambling companies will be betting on continued revenues from these markets.
The regulation has already come into force to prevent gambling sponsors from appearing on replica kits sold to under-18s, but it is felt that this is a box-ticking exercise rather than one that can actually be fully enforced. While Premier League Clubs will be unable to earn money directly from gambling companies in the UK in the future, their commercial markets are much more comprehensive than the home market, and out-of-sight links may remain.
Image: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
