Celtic and Rangers will not be forced to rip up multi-million pound sponsorship deals despite a move by the English Premier League to ban bookies as shirt sponsors.
Record Sport can reveal the SPFL have chosen against following the lead set by the top flight down south after they decided yesterday to axe all gambling firms as major club sponsors. The edict will forbid betting firms from having their branding emblazoned across the front of all club tops from the end of the 2025-26 season - even though deals for shirt sleeves and trackside advertising will still be permitted.
It’s been pushed through following a period of consultation with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of a government’s crackdown on current gambling legislation. But the English football league has opted out of entering into a similar agreement and the SPFL has confirmed it will not follow the Premier League’s lead either. That will come as a relief to both Old Firm clubs who have ongoing deals with two betting giants, Dafabet and the Kindred Group - the parent company of both 32Red and Unibet.
An SPFL spokesperson confirmed: “For many SPFL clubs, sponsorship from gambling companies is a significant source of income which helps to support their business models and enables investment in many of the important community activities which clubs undertake. Individual sponsorships are a matter for each club and there are no plans for a league-wide proscription of such deals.”
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