Gambling Money Deeply Entrenched in European Football, Research Reveals
New research has brought to light the extensive presence of gambling revenue in European football, indicating that two-thirds of teams across 31 prominent leagues have secured at least one sponsorship agreement with a betting company.
As the English Premier League approaches an impending prohibition on front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling firms, scheduled to take effect next year, data highlights that clubs in other European nations are devising methods to circumvent similar limitations.
Key Findings on Betting Partnerships in Football
Investigate Europe, a collaborative group of journalists, conducted an analysis of top divisions across the European Union and the United Kingdom, the findings of which were shared with the Guardian. The analysis revealed:
- Out of 442 teams, 296 have at least one betting partner this season, demonstrating the widespread nature of these collaborations.
- 145 teams feature gambling sponsorship prominently on the front of their jerseys, indicating significant brand visibility.
- In countries like Italy and Belgium, where front-of-shirt bans are in place, clubs are creatively working around restrictions by displaying logos of gambling companies’ associated charitable arms or news/entertainment platforms.
- Remarkably, 14 of the 31 leagues under examination have a betting company as their primary title sponsor, showcasing the financial reliance on the gambling industry.
- Across Europe’s top five leagues, 27 clubs have established partnerships with betting companies that primarily target Asian markets, expanding their reach beyond European audiences.
Premier League’s Gambling Ad Landscape
The pervasiveness of gambling advertisements in the Premier League is well-established. For the 2024-25 season, eleven teams display a gambling brand logo on the front of their shirts, representing the highest proportion among Europe’s leading five leagues. Furthermore, every team in the league has at least one betting partner. According to research by Global Data, as cited by Investigate Europe, betting brands have invested approximately $135 million (£104 million) in shirt sponsorship deals within the English top tier this season. This highlights the substantial financial взаимоотношения between football clubs and the gambling sector.
Circumventing Sponsorship Restrictions
While the English top-flight clubs have voluntarily agreed to ban front-of-shirt sponsorships from the 2026-27 season, Investigate Europe’s research suggests that countries that have already implemented such bans are seeing teams exploit loopholes. In Belgium, despite a January law restricting sponsorships to sleeves and the back of shirts, numerous Pro League clubs continue to display betting branding on the front of their shirts. They achieve this by utilizing sub-brands that incorporate only a fraction of the parent company’s name. A notable example is Club Brugge, the current league champions, who replaced Unibet as their shirt sponsor with U-Experts. U-Experts is presented as a news application developed by Unibet, but it maintains clear connections to Unibet’s online casino offerings, effectively maintaining brand visibility and association.
Italian Clubs and Betting-Adjacent Sponsors
Italy, having implemented similar restrictions in 2018, also demonstrates the ongoing presence of gambling-related sponsorships. In the 2024-25 season, three Serie A teams feature shirt sponsors that are closely linked to betting companies: Inter (Betsson.sport), Parma (AdmiralBet.news), and Lecce (BetItalyPay). These examples illustrate how clubs are adapting to regulations while maintaining relationships with the gambling industry through related entities or brands.
Milan’s Partnership with Unlicensed Betting Firm
AC Milan was identified as promoting a betting brand, Boomerang Bet, that lacks the necessary license to operate within Italy. Despite Boomerang Bet being blacklisted by Italian authorities and operating without the legally required local license for the Italian betting market, Milan entered into a regional partnership with them in July 2024, designating them as a European regional partner. Neither Milan nor Boomerang Bet provided comments to Investigate Europe regarding this partnership when requested.
Widespread Reach of Asian Bookmakers
Beyond unlicensed European operators, numerous clubs are endorsing companies blacklisted by national authorities in other regions for lacking required local licenses. There also remains a significant prevalence of Asian-facing bookmakers within European football. Twenty-seven teams across the top five leagues were found to be in partnership with 22 distinct Asia-focused betting brands. In Italy specifically, eight teams have sponsorship deals that are only visible when accessing club websites from Asian regions or through Asia-based VPNs, indicating a targeted approach to reach Asian betting markets.
Shirt Sponsorships vs. Wider Gambling Ad Exposure
The significance of front-of-shirt sponsorship itself is debatable, according to further research. Academics from the University of Bristol found that during the opening weekend of the Premier League season, almost 30,000 gambling advertisements were broadcast across stadiums, television, radio, and social media platforms. This figure represents a 165% increase compared to the previous year. Notably, shirt sponsorships constituted less than 10% of this overall advertising volume. This data suggests that while shirt sponsorships are a visible aspect of the partnership, the broader exposure to gambling advertising is significantly larger and multifaceted.
Expert Insights on Gambling Advertising’s Impact
Charles Livingstone, an expert member of the World Health Organization’s group on gambling and gambling disorder, emphasizes that research consistently demonstrates a correlation between exposure to gambling advertisements and increased gambling tendencies. He argues that advertising remains a crucial component of betting firms’ strategies for market penetration and growth.
Livingstone states that the industry’s substantial spending on promotional activities is directly linked to their need to “recruit new gamblers.” He further explains this rationale by highlighting that “the best customers are those who go broke. So they constantly have to recruit new gamblers to replace the ones who have gone through all their money and all their assets and all their relationships.” This perspective underscores the potentially problematic nature of the deep integration of gambling advertising within football, raising ethical concerns about its impact on vulnerable individuals and society.