Gambling front-of-shirt sponsorships rise ahead of potential ban 

With reports that Premier League football clubs will vote on voluntarily banning betting firms from team’s front of shirts, new research reveals this type of sponsorship is back on the rise following a huge fall last year.

Why it matters

Gambling’s share of sponsorships nearly halved from 2019 to 2021, but the sector has staged a mini-comeback this year following deals in rugby and cricket. 

“[That] will surprise many as publicity on gambling sponsorship centres on football,” says Alex Burmaster, head of research and analysis at sponsorship intelligence firm caytoo which conducts the annual study.  “The big questions are: will the Premier League voluntary ban happen and, if so, will other divisions or sports such as rugby and cricket follow suit?” 

The state of play

• Gambling saw the joint third-highest rise in the number of front of shirt (FoS) sponsors in the last year across the 226 professional football, cricket and rugby teams in England. It now accounts for 9.2% of sponsors, jumping back into second place behind Automotive (10.5%) and ahead of Retail (8.8%).
• The Manufacturing/Engineering sector has seen the biggest increase in FoS sponsorships from 4.9% to 7.5%. It’s now the fourth most prevalent sponsor, overtaking stalwart sectors such as IT, Construction and Travel & Tourism. Retail (7.1% to 8.8%) is the next fastest-growing sector.
• Financial Services – the second most dominant sector in 2021 – has seen the biggest drop (down from 8.4% to 6.1%) and is now ranked fifth. The next biggest faller is Alcohol, down from 3.1% to 1.3% – just one quarter of the share it held three years ago.
• In terms of individual sports, Gambling is football’s most prevalent FoS sponsor (15.4% share), while cricket’s is Automotive (17.7%) and rugby’s is Manufacturing/Engineering and Retail (both 13.3%). 

Sourced from caytoo