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THREAD. Why it’s time we ban betting sponsors in English football.
1. 61% of England’s biggest clubs are sponsored by a gambling firm. Gambling culture has been normalised and it’s hurting our youngest and most vulnerable football fans.
1. 61% of England’s biggest clubs are sponsored by a gambling firm. Gambling culture has been normalised and it’s hurting our youngest and most vulnerable football fans.
2. As all clubs line up to drop their new kits for next season, we’re constantly reminded about just how visible betting companies are in English football. It’s a serious problem.
Graphic via @classicshirts
Graphic via @classicshirts
3. 27 of England’s top 44 clubs have a betting company sponsor their shirt, meaning that gambling brands are an ever-present feature on match days and broadcast to millions all over the globe.
4. This means that the game’s youngest fans are being conditioned to see betting as normal. Some of our biggest ballers – heroes to many – are playing football with a gambling logo on their chest, while fans are also seeing the same logos and messages while they play FIFA, too.
5. Research from the Gambling Commission audit in 2018 recorded 55,000 children aged between 11 and 18 as “problem gamblers” – and these figures are rising.
6. One of the best things about football right now is how players are stepping up to be positive influences in the community and speaking up for social justice. But at the same time, they’re inadvertent poster boys for an industry that preys on society’s most vulnerable.
7. Italy and Turkey have already banned gambling firms from sponsoring football clubs, with La Liga following suit from next season. They’ve taken this step to protect the communities from seeing gambling as an accepted form of leisure. English football needs to do the same.
8. The response to BLM and #PlayersTogether has shown football wants to make the world a better place. While seeing ‘Black Lives Matter’ on the back of shirts was an empowering sight, the game must now look at the sponsors on the front of its shirts and finally take action.
