A report on the country’s gambling laws is expected to be published in the coming months and the Daily Mail have claimed it is almost certain to include proposals to ban front-of-football shirt sponsorship from betting companies.
Brighton & Hove Albion will not be affected by the ban as they their shirt has been sponsored by American Express since 2013 however nine other Premier League clubs and six Championship clubs will have to find new sponsors if the ban goes ahead.
Analysts GlobalData put the cost of such a ban to Premier League clubs at £60 million, which would disproportionately affect those clubs towards the middle and lower end of the league.
Liam Fox from GlobalData said: “These deals have been concentrated in mid-lower table teams because clubs at this level are unable to attract the same high-value blue chip sponsors that teams at the summit of the table can.
“What this has meant is that mid-lower Premier League clubs have become increasingly reliant on the industry to help limit the financial disparity between themselves and those clubs at the summit of the table. Therefore, the ban will likely widen this gap further.”
Labour MP Carolyn Harris, the chair of the gambling-related harm all-party parliamentary group, has previously said that such a ban is “one of the most obvious things to do” within the new act.
She said last year: “All the groups who have reported or commented on this have said this is an area (ministers) need to tackle immediately. So I’m quite confident that will happen.”
The policy document outlining the proposal is expected to be published later this year and will be followed by a three-month consultation period before it goes to Parliament, meaning it is unlikely that any changes will come in before 2023.
Here are the 15 Premier League and Championship clubs that are currently sponsored by betting firms...

9. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves agreed a record partnership with ManBetX in 2019 in a deal worth a reported £8 million a year to the club - a considerable increase on the previous £5 million a year deal with W88. Photo: David Rogers

10. Middlesbrough
In 2018 Middlesbrough signed a 'record-breaking' three-year deal with online casino 32Red -though it is unclear how much they currently pay to sponsor the Championship club's shirt. Boro extended the deal this summer. Photo: George Wood

11. Birmingham City
BoyleSports became Birmingham City's shirt sponsor in 2019 and was their biggest sponsorship deal in over a decade. Photo: Catherine Ivill

12. Stoke City
bet365 became Stoke City's shirt sponsor back in 2012 and their stadium sponsor in 2016. The deal was reportedly worth about £3 million a season when the Potters were in the Premier League and, according to club accounts, Stoke banked almost £8 million from sponsorship in 2020. Photo: Nathan Stirk

