For the 10th year in a row, the amount raised in shirt sponsorship in the Premier League has topped that of the preceding season. This record breaking streak saw a total income of £349.1 million in shirt sponsorship deals for the 2019/20 season.
This becomes relevant when you realise that out of the 20 clubs in the English Premier League, 10 of them have gambling brands as their official shirt sponsor – another record – making up £68.6 million of the total sponsorship money spent.
Who’s Sponsoring Who?
Interestingly, the money brought in by gambling companies isn’t even one fifth of the total £349.1 million, with the majority of that sum being made up by airline, banking, and car companies sponsoring the like of Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, and Chelsea.
Betway seem to have the deepest pockets of the bookies, sponsoring West Ham to the tune of £10 million. At the other end of the table, Dafabet are paying £3 million to appear on the front of Norwich’s shirt. Other clubs sporting the names of bookies across their chests include Everton, Watford, Newcastle Utd, and Wolves.
The 10th annual review of Premier League shirt deals, by @alexmiller73, shows the collective value for 2019-20 has risen to £349.1m. Man Utd well ahead of the pack. See small print for details. pic.twitter.com/6exHYAeMfS
— Nick Harris (@sportingintel) July 17, 2019
Even more noteworthy is the fact that many of these deals have been signed with gambling companies who are not exactly well known in this country, including some betting brands based in China, Thailand, and even Kenya.
This is evidence that the UK is seen as fertile ground for betting companies far and wide, as so many are competing for a slice of the pie and are willing to pay out a lot of money in marketing budgets to do so.
Is All As It Seems?
At the same time as all of this has been happening, Ladbrokes have pulled out of their sponsorship deal with Scottish Football in an effort to distance themselves from negative press.
This deal has been running since 2015, so the timing is interesting, and if you look at the companies who are sponsoring Premier League clubs, only one of them could be considered a big name in the industry. William Hill, Coral, Betfair et al are nowhere to be seen.
So could it be that the big brand bookies are staying out of the spotlight in an effort to avoid negative press, and unintentionally leaving an opening for newer bookies or those from far off lands to sneak in the back door?
It will certainly be an interesting season.