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

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

00:08with gambling firms likely to be outright banned from appearing on the front of shirts.

00:13Hello there everybody, Adam Cleary 442 here and if something just looks slightly wrong

00:18to you about this picture then, well, get used to it.

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

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

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

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

00:37So what's actually happened?

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

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

00:48on the front of Premier League kits.

00:51Is that a big deal?

00:52Well, yes, it's an enormous deal because if we just look at this beautiful graph here

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

01:00front of their shirt.

01:02That's Bournemouth, Brentford, Everton, Fulham, Leeds, Newcastle, Southampton and West Ham

01:07all potentially affected by this rule change.

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

01:12by financial services as well?

01:15Pretty sure that's just gambling for rich people, not that I'd know.

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

01:23and it's only a ban on the very front of the shirt, not the sleeve part or the bottom

01:28of the back or the top of the back, which happens in some countries and looks really

01:31weird to me.

01:32But anyway, I digress.

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

01:38how prominent it is.

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

01:42They get loads of money from these gambling firms.

01:44Why voluntarily agree to get rid of them?

01:47Well, the answer is twofold, my friends.

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

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

01:58has on society and just stop featuring it as prominently.

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

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

02:09moved away from that.

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

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

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

02:20just not pursue that as an avenue because sooner or later it'll bite us in the arse.

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

02:28one.

02:29Like, anti-gambling advertisement is unignorable these days and even pro-gambling advertisement

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

02:38It could be pretty bad for you.

02:39My favourite one, personally, is the ones that go, hey, use our betting app.

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

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

02:50they are pushed by the government.

02:52You see, there is a major government report due in April of this year that looks on gambling

02:56advertisements, specifically in sport, and what impact that's having on people.

03:00And it's been repeatedly implied by the government that that report is likely to recommend an

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

03:08And ultimately, because it would be government legislation, there's not really anything the

03:11Premier League would do about it.

03:13Like, don't get me wrong, they'd be back and forth and they'd probably be a bit of compromise.

03:16They would try and reach an agreement together.

03:17But if the government just turned around and said, look, at the end of this season, we

03:21don't care what contracts you've signed, get rid of all the gambling firms completely,

03:26the Premier League would probably have to do it.

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

03:33have something they don't like imposed on them a few months down the line.

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

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

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

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

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

03:54really hard.

03:55We could go full scorched earth and get another whole thing and then end up having to compromise

03:59into pretty much this arrangement anyway, or we can leave them to it because, you know,

04:03they're going to sort it themselves.

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

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

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

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

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

04:25them with?

04:26It's going to be crypto, isn't it?

04:27Because that won't end in tears.

04:28So there you go.

04:29That is the Premier League's impending ban on gambling firms advertising on the front

04:33of shirts explained nice and neatly for you.

04:35I hope that's cleared up.

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

04:38Good idea, bad idea, all opinions welcome.

04:40And of course, don't forget to like, share and subscribe.

04:42I say subscribe all the time because I really do mean it.

04:44It helps us out a whole bunch.

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

04:49Goodbye.

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