The UK Government are set to outline new guidelines for advertising for in sport with a huge emphasis on betting sites.
MailSport reports the Government are about to put to an end to betting sites advertising on football teams jerseys in a bid to combat the nations gambling problem.
A source close to the review said: ‘We are pretty sure there is going to be an end to front-of-shirt advertising. Everybody is expecting that. Reformers want more but a lot of politicians are worried about the lower leagues.
‘The Government thinks front-of-shirt will catch the headlines and it will feel like it has made a bold statement.’
Any changes aren’t likely to take affect until 2023. After the white paper is produced this winter, it will then go in front of parliament for any potential amendments. It will have a profound impact on clubs you and down the country.
We’re not clear at this point if Scotland would be exempt from the UK ban or if Celtic’s Dafabet sponsorship could be in the firing line. Given the spirit of what the UK government are about to do – we’d be surprised if the Scottish government didn’t follow through and do the same if devolved powers grant them the power to do so.
It could spell a major problem for Celtic who are currently three years into a seven year deal with Dafabet. They signed the deal back in 2018. At the time it was billed as Scotland’s biggest ever shirt sponsorship deal. [Record Sport]
We can only speculate if the contract between the two has a break clause under certain circumstances.
Celtic will be watching closely on how this plays out. If the club are forced to remove the deal – it would have financial repercussions for the club.
Down south, at this moment in time, nine top flight clubs have betting sites on the front of their jerseys. It could very well impact many in the months and years ahead.
I’d personally get rid of all sponsorship. It is a blight on the jersey. Punting horsesh1t products on an ancient top just for money. To hell with that. No logo.
Totally agree. Especially Booze and gambling. We should have nothing to do with this.
Glad to see the UK Gov doing something. It is sickening that our club advertises to our kids an over 18s product proven to be addictive and with countless stories of lives being ruined by it (including kids, spouses, families of problem gamblers).
Treat the top with respect. Only advertise on inside. As junior tops have no adverts. Leave adverts for the big screens and pitch hoardings
I think you can all forget a return to the days of pure hoops as there’s far too much money to be made from shirt sponsorship. I don’t mind it as long as it’s just the front, not a fan of these European and South American efforts that are covered in logos.
This will be interesting to see how it goes as neither party is breaking the contract but being forced to. This could end in the courts and to be honest these betting companies have the money to drag this on for ages.