Premier League's New Ban On Shirt Sponsorships Explained

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Gambling firms will no longer be able to sponsor Premier League kits, but why?

Transcript

00:00 Premier League clubs are set to announce a groundbreaking change to kit sponsorships

00:07 with gambling firms likely to be outright banned from appearing on the front of shirts.

00:12 Hello there everybody, Adam Cleary 442 here and if something just looks slightly wrong

00:17 to you about this picture then, well, get used to it.

00:21 I mean obviously not really, Premier League clubs simply love money too much to ever allow

00:26 it to get to this point but the fact remains if the legislation they're planning on bringing

00:29 in was brought in right now, this is how it would look.

00:33 And not just for Newcastle United but for nearly half of the entire league.

00:37 So what's actually happened?

00:39 Well nothing, yeah you're right, but at a meeting on Thursday of this week the Premier

00:43 League were apparently voting on whether or not to ban gambling firms from advertising

00:48 on the front of Premier League kits.

00:50 Is that a big deal?

00:51 Well yes it's an enormous deal because if we just look at this beautiful graph here

00:55 for a second you can see 40% of the Premier League currently have a betting firm on the

01:00 front of their shirt.

01:01 That's Bournemouth, Brentford, Everton, Fulham, Leeds, Newcastle, Southampton and West Ham

01:06 all potentially affected by this rule change.

01:09 Also just a quick one, you've got Wolves, Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton all sponsored

01:12 by financial services as well?

01:15 Pretty sure that's just gambling for rich people.

01:17 Not that I'd know but...

01:19 Now reports are that clubs would get around three years to finish their existing deals

01:22 and it's only a ban on the very front of the shirt, not the sleeve part or the bottom of

01:27 the back or the top of the back, which happens in some countries and looks really weird to

01:31 me, but anyway I digress.

01:33 So it's not as dramatic as it necessarily sounds but still fairly significant given

01:38 how prominent it is.

01:39 So the question is, why are the Premier League doing that?

01:42 They get loads of money from these gambling firms, why voluntarily agree to get rid of

01:47 them?

01:48 Well the answer is twofold my friends.

01:50 First of all, this comes after years and years of pressure from charities and anti-gambling

01:53 groups saying the Premier League needs to take more responsibility for the impact gambling

01:57 has on society and just stop featuring it as prominently.

02:01 And that's not exactly new because if you think back to the 90s it was alcohol that

02:05 was the predominant sponsor of Premier League shirts and over time the clubs have steadily

02:08 moved away from that.

02:10 Not through any legislation or any official rule but they did at least see which way the

02:13 wind was blowing in regards to alcohol advertising.

02:16 It's got some of the strictest in the world in the UK so it was a case of well, let's

02:19 just not pursue that as an avenue because sooner or later it'll bite us in the arse.

02:23 And they are probably due a little bit of credit for correctly reading the room on this

02:27 one.

02:28 Like anti-gambling advertisement is unignorable these days and even pro-gambling advertisement

02:33 tends to carry a little disclaimer saying "are you absolutely sure you want to gamble?

02:37 It could be pretty bad for you."

02:39 My favourite one personally is the ones that go "hey, use our betting app, it comes with

02:42 all these great tools that will stop you using this betting app."

02:46 But the main reason they are bringing this in is it is a case of them jumping before

02:50 they are pushed by the government.

02:51 You see there is a major government report due in April of this year that looks on gambling

02:55 advertisements, specifically in sport, and what impact that's having on people.

02:59 And it's been repeatedly implied by the government that that report is likely to recommend an

03:03 outright ban on betting advertisement in the Premier League.

03:07 And ultimately because it would be government legislation, there's not really anything the

03:11 Premier League would do about it.

03:12 Like don't get me wrong, they'd be back and forth and there'd probably be a bit of compromise,

03:15 they'd try and reach an agreement together, but if the government just turned around and

03:19 said "look, at the end of this season, we don't care what contracts you've signed, get

03:23 rid of all the gambling firms completely", the Premier League would probably have to

03:27 do it.

03:28 So this move by the Premier League is ultimately designed to do it on their terms rather than

03:32 have something they don't like imposed on them a few months down the line.

03:36 And that's why there is a three year grace period so they can see out all these contracts.

03:40 That's why it's only a ban on the front of the shirt and you still have it on the sleeve

03:43 so you can still work with these companies, you can still get a bit of their money.

03:47 So while it's almost certainly not going as far as the government would probably recommend,

03:51 it's still a good enough step that their view will be "well, we could come down on them

03:54 really hard, we could go full scorched earth and get another whole thing and then end up

03:58 having to compromise into pretty much this arrangement anyway, or we can leave them to

04:02 it because, you know, they're going to sort it themselves".

04:04 But of course this does beg the question about what's going to happen to the Football League

04:08 because not only are the front of their shirts rife with betting companies, but they have

04:13 several divisions that are literally sponsored by them.

04:16 I don't think it's too much of an exaggeration to say that betting firms are pretty much

04:20 propping up the entire football pyramids in this country, so what are they going to replace

04:24 them with?

04:25 It's going to be crypto isn't it?

04:26 Because that won't end in tears.

04:28 So there you go, that is the Premier League's impending ban on gambling firms advertising

04:32 on the front of shirts explained nice and neatly for you.

04:35 I hope that's cleared it up.

04:36 Let us know what you make of this in the comments below.

04:37 Good idea, bad idea, all opinions welcome.

04:39 And of course don't forget to like, share and subscribe.

04:41 I say subscribe all the time because I really do mean it.

04:43 It helps us out a whole bunch.

04:45 Anyway, until next time, I've been Adam Cleary and I'll see you soon.

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