Bookmakers' Last Chord: English Premier League Says Goodbye to $130 Million T-Shirt Gambling
The 2025/26 season in the English Premier League (EPL) will go down in history as the final stage of the open dominance of betting companies on gaming jerseys. Analyst Paul Quinn in his article for The ESK analysed the scale of the influence of the gambling business on English football on the eve of the entry into force of the voluntary refusal of the Premier League from the title sponsorship of gambling operators.
The situation at the moment looks paradoxical: before the upcoming restrictions, bookmakers are pouring colossal funds into clubs. This season, the total amount of contracts for placing casino and betting logos on the chest of football players has reached an impressive $129.6 million.
Key figures and facts of the current season:
- Mass presence: More than half of the league – 11 of the 20 Premier League teams – take to the pitch with gambling ads on their chests.
- Dependency of the middle peasants: If we take out of brackets the clubs of the "big six", bookmakers occupied 78.6% of the places on the shirts of the other teams, providing 72.1% of the total value of such contracts.
- Share in the budget: For many teams, this money is a matter of survival. For clubs outside the top 6, sponsorship from gambling companies forms from 28% to 38% of all commercial revenue. Notable examples: Everton and Stake (38%), Wolverhampton and DEBET (35%), West Ham and BoyleSports (32%).
- Aggressive marketing: In the first weekend of the season alone, broadcast viewers saw 27,440 advertising integrations from gambling companies, which is almost three times more than in the 2023/24 season.
- Global spending: According to the British Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), country-licensed operators spent a whopping $1.57 billion on marketing and sponsorship between October 2023 and September 2024.
- Lower leagues: In the English Football League (EFL), which is home to 72 teams from three divisions below the Premier League, Sky Bet remains the title sponsor with a $54.6 million per year contract.
Why is the ban called "cosmetic"?
According to the author of the review, the rejection of advertising on the chest will not change much globally. Operators are already adapting: contracts are being transferred to sleeves, training uniforms and LED panels around the field - all this is not prohibited.
A separate problem is "white label" schemes. Major Asian brands (such as Stake, 96, DEBET) use licenses from British intermediary firms to legally shine in the Premier League. At the same time, they do not aim at British fans at all: their main task is to broadcast their brand to a multi-million audience in Asia.
What awaits the clubs next?
The loss of title gambling sponsors threatens the middle peasants of the Premier League with a drawdown in sponsorship revenues by 20-30%. In the face of tight financial stability rules (PSR), this could be a critical blow. Many teams will have to urgently sell top players to balance the balance, while clubs from the lower divisions of the EFL will continue to quietly advertise bookmakers, as this ban does not apply to them.Mark Patterson is the news writer at CasinosInCanada who covers the latest developments in the iGaming industry, including casino launches, regulations, and market updates.
The funniest thing in this story is the white label scheme. In fact, England is just renting out its stadiums to casinos that are illegal in China. The British license is purely for cover. Hypocrites of the highest level
money rule the world
Steak is generally handsome, a top office. Thanks to them, the teams at least have money for transfers.
They will hang the logo on the sleeve and on the sides, that's business. For the Asian market, the main thing is that it gets into the broadcast.
Previously, there were ads for beer, consoles, electronics on T-shirts - Carlsberg, JVC, Sharp! It looked cool and stylish.