Half of Premier League Teams Breach Rule on Gambling Ads for Children

Details: Category: Gambling Industry; Created: Saturday, 28 September 2024 13:28

Half of Premier League football teams broke the rule on gambling ads for children. Thus, there were concerns about the voluntary code of conduct developed with the help of the gambling industry. According to a review, English football teams avoided the new restrictions affecting their income from gambling sponsorship.

Clubs in the Premier League have instead agreed to work with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), a lobbying group for the gambling industry, to eliminate betting emblems off the front of their shirts beginning in 2026. They have also agreed to new sponsorship regulations.

There were worries that football may encourage gambling and have a negative influence on young people and other vulnerable populations. Therefore, teams and gambling corporations took this step to demonstrate their responsibility.

Rule on Gambling Ads for Children

On Monday, however, it appeared that ten of twenty Premier League clubs were not following their regulations. Members of at least two clubs' under-18 teams were seen wearing jerseys with betting logos, even though they were minors.

Campaigners, such as former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith and ITV football pundit Clive Tyldesley, were worried that clubs should be able to establish their policies on gambling sponsorship in light of the results.

Under the voluntary guideline published in July, clubs must remove gambling sponsor logos from any content or area of their website intended for use by youngsters.

The Guardian and The Pitch Inspection, an online football investigative magazine, examined club store sections for youngsters, under-18 football material, and even pages dedicated to "junior" fan forums and mascots, including betting logos. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford had betting logos on their children's apparel sections on their online stores.

Although Brentford's emblem was not directly linked to its sponsor, Hollywood Bets' website, Wolves club store patrons in the children's section could access Debit, a virtual computer-generated sports betting and casino games provider.

Other Gambling Rule Violations

An article detailing the latest happenings at Everton's "junior fans' forum," open to kids aged 11–17, included a link to the company's sponsor, Stake.com. Similarly, the under-18 squad page featured two players donning the online casino logo. Neither is of legal drinking age, so they can't wear the logo to a league game.

Promoting Stake.com, an online gaming platform focusing on Bitcoin, has gotten Everton FC in hot water. The gaming corporation and the sponsor argued in 2022 when the sponsor urged the team not to use its branding. Betano, a sponsor of Aston Villa's under-18 team, had its emblem shown on one of its players. The photo was taken shortly after.

The newly promoted Ipswich Town has several pages that cater to different age groups: one for under-18s, one for young fans, and one for junior fans. This includes the website where supporters may register to be a matchday mascot. One of these pages even has a link to 8xbet. From their under-18 football pages, several teams connected to betting sponsors. Among them were Leicester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea.

Chelsea FC's young team highlights page and the under-18 fixtures page link to the Betway website, the team's official sponsor. The Guardian asked clubs to delete photographs or links: Ipswich, Brentford, Wolves, Liverpool, Everton, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Wolves, Leicester City, and Everton. Betway informed Chelsea of the problem and stated that it had no intention of promoting to anybody under 18.

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