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Premier League clubs are being urged to turn away from gambling sponsorship after the government announced a crackdown. Teams already face having to remove gambling companies from the front of their shirts before the start of next season – and now the lucrative and murky avenue could be shut down altogether.

It was way back in April 2023 when Premier League clubs agreed to get rid of gambling companies on the front of their shirts by the time the 2026/27 season kicked off. But there hasn’t been a phasing out of the practice, with 11 of the 20 clubs currently advertising gambling on the front of their shirts.

The gambling industry is intertwined with elite football, with research by Investigate Europe last year finding that 296 of the 442 clubs in the top European leagues had at least one betting partner last season, while research in 2023 found that betting logos appear up to 3,500 times during TV games.

The upcoming changes of the rules on front-of-shirt sponsorship triggered worries that clubs would simply make use of loopholes to continue milking the cash cow.

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Obscure betting companies that are solely focused on the Asian market have become commonplace in the Premier League. Many don’t hold a gambling licence in the UK but have been able to get around regulations anyway by using a “white label” agreement with a company in the Isle of Man.

That company, TGP Europe, was forced to surrender its British licence last year after an investigation by the Gambling Commission. At the time, Bournemouth, Fulham, Newcastle, Wolves and Burnley were all sponsored by betting websites run by the firm and were issued with a warning.

Now the UK government has announced a crackdown on the sector, which still funnels millions of pounds into Premier League clubs. “It’s not right that unlicensed gambling operators can sponsor some of our biggest football clubs, raising their profile and potentially drawing fans towards sites that don’t meet our regulatory standards,” said culture secretary Lisa Nandy.

The government plans to stop unlicensed companies from striking sponsorship deals with sports teams, which could put paid to potential replacement deals when front-of-shirt sponsorship comes to an end this summer. It is a potentially serious blow for the mid-to-low-ranking Premier League sides, who have come to rely on obscure gambling companies because they are willing to pay top dollar to get eyes on them in Asian markets.

“If a sponsor becomes politically or legally untenable, clubs can face a double hit because replacement deals may come in at lower value on short notice and clubs may have to spread the same revenue gap across multiple smaller partners,” Andrew Smith, a sports finance specialist and founder of Sporta, tells Mirror Football. “The clubs most exposed are typically those outside the very top end, because they have fewer global brands queuing up.”

Smith believes that some clubs have become overly dependent on gambling sponsorship and they will now have to work harder to find alternatives. He says it may take two or three mid-tier national brands, a shirt sleeve sponsor, new sponsors for the women’s side and academy side, regional partnerships, improved matchday hospitality revenue and increased memberships just to make up for the £20million per season that some clubs have been earning from a gambling sponsor.

“The lesson for football clubs is that if too much of your revenue is concentrated from a single or limited source, it represents a risk if they leave or due to legislation are forced out,” he explains.

“Betting brands have dominated because they pay premium money for prime real estate. If that money narrows, the clubs without global pulling power will feel it first. The smart clubs will use this moment to diversify: more partners, cleaner categories, and more income they control themselves.”

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