According to a report released by The Guardian, the season 2019-2020 is a loaded one for most of the teams in the UK premier league. One of the most significant aspects that these teams will enjoy is the massive sponsorship from most gambling companies. Let’s have a look at some of the impressive statistics in the 2019-2020 season.
Exciting Statistics of Gambling Sponsorship
The report reveals that over 17 out of the 24 championship clubs in the UK league will cling to one of the gambling sponsors. If you are a football or soccer fanatic, you must have noticed that most of the shirts worn by the players have logos of gambling companies.
Well, it is not for decoration, but it is a sign that the gambling entity or company is sponsoring the sports club. Every year, there has been a dramatic increase in the allocation that comes from these betting companies. Reports indicate that the premier league received over 349.1 million Euros just for shirt sponsorship in the 2019-2020 season.
In the previous season, 2018-2019, the UK premier league had received 315.6 million Euros. That should tell you that there has been an over 10% increase in the commitment of these gambling companies to sports, especially the famous English Premier League (EPL).
With such high support from the gambling and betting sponsors, it means that almost three-quarters of the UK premier teams display the logos of the betting companies. Of course, there has been resistance from some MPs, Ladbrokes GVC, and some campaigners who are much determined to ban and stop shirt sponsorship, but this wave seems to be too strong to be stopped.
Some Huge Beneficiaries of Sponsorships
Most of the clubs in the English premier league have had a share from the gambling firms, although some have had a higher percentage than others. However, it is good to note that some of the greatest indomitable winners in the premier league did not have any betting sponsors in the 2019-2020 season.
Some renowned teams like Manchester United heavily rely on the sponsorship from one of the United States automobile company known as Chevrolet. You must have noticed the logo of this automotive giant in the Manchester United shirts. The club happens to be one of the greatest beneficiaries of sponsorship, receiving over 80 million US dollars every year.
Another premier league team that is closely following Manchester United is its counterpart and the wealthiest club in the UK premier league, Manchester City. One of the most significant sponsors of this club is Etihad airline, which is an entity of Abu Dhabi. The club has been receiving over 45 million Euros every year.
And now on the side of the highest beneficiary of the gambling sponsorship, West Ham United takes the lead. The club was receiving over 10 million Euros every year from one of the major betting companies known as Betway.
Most beneficiaries of gambling sponsorship do not include the top and renowned teams in the EPL, like Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham clubs. However, the other clubs in the table have been receiving sponsorship from the gambling companies.
Although the restrictions have been on the ground of what is not to be displayed during the game, people like James Grimes still insist that the teams should not be having logos of these betting companies on their shirts. Well, only time will tell whether the push will lead to the ban of shirt sponsorship.
The question now remains, what do these millions of dollars and Euros from these gambling companies help the UK premier league clubs to do, especially the ones that are upcoming? You just hung on and kept reading to get the answer.
Importance of the Gambling Sponsorship in the UK Premier League
On the side of the real money casinos and gambling companies, the essence of sponsoring these UK premier league clubs is generally for advertisement. They want to attract more gamblers to their companies.
Of course, there has been tangible success related to their actions where gamblers have flocked to betting. Due to the conducive betting environment caused by the few restrictions from the government, betting has increased rapidly in the land.
But how are these teams in the UK premier league benefiting from the sponsorship from these betting clubs? Here are some of the ways:
- It enables them to acquire the best players
A team can either grow or collapse, depending on the quality of players it is having. Since most team managers in the UK premier league understand this secret, they get busy buying new players from established teams like Arsenal.
Some teams in the EPL are known to be the preparation ground of great players who are later sold to the other football clubs when the buy-sell and transfer season is opened. You will be surprised to know that buying a quality player from another club is very expensive.
That should tell you that without sufficient sponsorship from these gambling companies, some teams will never have the transfer or purchase of any new player. A team in the lower position in the EPL table can only buy a player from Arsenal or Manchester United if they have sponsorship.
- It helps the team to pay the players
To keep the players motivated to do what they do best, the football club must have the capacity to pay them well. Poor pay has led to the transfer of many players to other well-paying clubs and led to the collapse of some teams.
Of course, you must be knowing that players are not paid the same despite being in the same club. Some players, like the strikers, defenders, and goalkeepers, are some of the well-paid players in any team.
To sustain such high salaried and waged players, these teams need the sponsorship from these gambling clubs. And so far, Betway, Sportpesa, among others have been on the lead.
- It helps in running the club
A football club in the UK premier league needs a lot of running for it to be stable and win in any competition. These sponsors have enabled these teams to run their clubs effectively. In things like paying for their tickets when traveling to away matches, buying them some other effects like buses, shoes, bags, training kits, and perhaps in purchasing food & drinks, among others.
- It helps in building stadiums and playing pitches
Every team needs to have a great stadium where its fans gather to spectate them when playing their home games. You must have noticed that almost every team in the EPL has an impressive stadium and training pitches where they host their competitors. How were these stadiums built? Some received sponsorship from their betting sponsors.
- It helps reward the die-hards of the team
Sometimes a team may feel like it wants to do good to their supportive fans who know their every detail. They usually reward them with massive amounts, gifts, and sponsored trips. For their reputation, these sponsoring gambling companies choose to reward the fans in collaboration with the team.
- Useful in giving donations
Sometimes disasters happen, and the club may decide to show some social responsibility to society. Some CSR may include donating some money to the affected or some times giving out playing kits like balls, sports shoes, socks, and uniforms to the upcoming and aspiring juniors. The sponsorship enables some things to be done.
- It is used to buy and pay the managers and coaches
Besides paying the players, the team coaches and managers also deserve some pay for their diligence in making the team win. Some coaches are world-class and better than others. When a team decides to buy a coach like Jose Mourinho, who is a renowned coach, they will need to have a considerable amount. In such a case, the team heavily relies on gambling sponsorship to buy and pay the coach or manager.
As you can see, most teams in the EPL surely need gambling sponsorship to keep fulfilling the expectations of their fans. But what are some of the cons of having these gambling companies as the sponsors of these clubs? Lets briefly look at that.
Cons of Gambling Sponsorship in the UK Premier League
Every good thing has its dark side, which many ignore and only look at the bright side. Now we have taken you through some of the benefits and pros of having gambling sponsorship. So what are some cons of the same?
- 1.It creates a wrong image to the minors
The reason why adverts about the gambling companies were banned when a particular game is being played is because of the impression it was forming on the children who know nothing about gambling. As they keep on seeing their logo and advert, the young people will want to experiment with it.
- 2.It lures fans to addiction
Did you know betting can give you a higher addiction than the drugs? As a fan of a specific club continues to see the logos and ads of a certain gambling company, they will start trying it out, which will eventually lead to addiction.
Conclusion
Although sponsorship from these gambling companies is excellent, the clubs in the UK premier league should control so much exposure to the public. Nevertheless, it is a great foundation for having established clubs in the UK league and making the clubs able to compete international.