This season, around 300 elite clubs have agreements with bookmakers, demonstrating the game’s monetary reliance on the industry.
Campaigners claim that agreements run the risk of pushing more people into addiction, thus several teams get around prohibitions by working with “gateway” sponsors.
According to recent research, two-thirds of teams in the 31 main divisions of European football have at least one sponsorship agreement with a betting company, exposing the pervasiveness of gambling money in the sport.
Data also indicates that clubs in European nations have discovered ways to circumvent the Premier League’s impending ban on gambling companies sponsoring the front of shirts, which is set to take effect next year.
Investigate Europe, a cross-border journalist collective, analyzed the leading splits in the UK and EU and published their findings with the Guardian. Among its conclusions, the team noted:
- This season, 296 out of 442 teams have at least one betting partner.
- On the front of their shirts, 145 are sponsored by the gaming industry.
- Clubs in Belgium and Italy circumvent front-of-shirt regulations by showcasing the logos of news/entertainment websites or the charitable foundations of gaming corporations.
- A betting corporation serves as the title sponsor for 14 out of the 31 leagues that were examined.
- Asian-focused betting organizations have worked with 27 clubs in Europe’s top five divisions.
It is commonly known that gambling advertisements are everywhere throughout the Premier League. Every team has a betting partner, and eleven teams—the most of any of Europe’s top five leagues—have a gambling emblem on the front of their 2024–25 uniforms.
According to Global Data’s analysis, which Investigate Europe referenced, betting companies have spent over $135 million (£104 million) on shirt agreements in the English top flight this season.
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The gap is being closed by other continental leagues. In the Dutch Eredivisie, each team has a sponsor or betting partner. According to the study, Portugal, Greece, and Germany are also significant and profitable markets.
However, there is extensive advertising even in smaller countries; most top-tier teams in Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria have betting emblems on their shirts.
Although English Premier League teams had consented to a voluntary restriction on front-of-shirt sponsorship for the 2026–2027 campaign, Investigate Europe discovered that teams in nations that had implemented such bans were reportedly taking use of legal loopholes.
For instance, a legislation that limited sponsorships to shirt sleeves and the back went into force in Belgium in January. However, a few of Pro League teams use sub-brands that only partially include the company name to put betting emblems on the front of shirts. For instance, Club Brugge, the defending champions, changed Unibet as their shirt sponsor to U-Experts, a Unibet-created news app that has connections to its casino.
In Italy, where a similar regulation was implemented in 2018, three Serie A teams—Inter (Betsson.sport), Parma (AdmiralBet.news), and Lecce (BetItalyPay)—have betting-adjacent jersey sponsors for 2024–25.
It was discovered that Milan was endorsing a bookmaker without the necessary license to conduct business in Italy. In July 2024, Milan signed a contract with Boomerang Bet to become their European betting partner. This was the case even though the brand was banned by Italian authorities and did not have a local license, which is required by law in Italy. Investigate Europe reached out to Milan and Boomerang for comment, but they did not reply.
There is still a large presence of Asian bookies, many of whom do not formally operate in Europe, while some teams support businesses that have been banned by national authorities elsewhere on the continent for lacking the necessary local licenses.
Twenty-seven teams from the top five leagues were found to have worked with 22 brands that cater to Asian consumers. Deals for eight Italian teams are only viewable while visiting club websites from Asia or using a VPN situated in Asia.
Additional research has demonstrated that the significance of front-of-shirt sponsorship is irrelevant in and of itself. Researchers from the University of Bristol found that around 30,000 gambling advertisements were shown to viewers in stadiums and on TV, radio, and social media during the first weekend of the Premier League, which is 165% more than the previous year. Less than 10% of that total came from shirt sponsors.
According to research, the more you see gambling advertisements, the more inclined you are to gamble, and advertising is still a major part of betting companies’ business plans, says Charles Livingstone, a member of the World Health Organization’s expert committee on gambling and gambling disorders.
According to Livingstone, the industry invests millions on promotions “because it helps them to recruit new gamblers.” The explanation for this is that the most loyal customers are the ones that go broke. In order to replace the gamblers who have spent all of their money, possessions, and relationships, they must continuously find new ones.
Source: Investigate Europe
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