Everton will be in the sights of the Premier League when it comes to their front of shirt sponsorship with officials wanting to introduce a 'voluntary ban' on gambling partners.
Sky News reported on Monday that the Premier League were seeking backing from their 20 member clubs to ban betting companies taking prominent front of shirt sponsorship ahead of the publication of a Government white paper on gambling reform.
Everton are currently one of seven Premier League sides that have their main shirt sponsorship with a gambling firm, the Toffees signing a multi-year 'club record' deal with online casino Stake.com last month.
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The deal with Stake.com came two-and-a-half-years on from Everton CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale's pre-pandemic comments at a club AGM that stated that, following the ending of a partnership with betting site SportPesa as a main shirt sponsor, the club would not 'in an ideal world' enter into any further deals with gambling companies for their shirt sponsorship.
But a pandemic and curbs issues over Everton sailing close to the Premier League's profit and sustainability regulations have seen the club forced into a step change and the deal with Stake.com offered the best financial package for the club at a time when they were also being threatened with relegation and the possibility of having to sell heavily discounted shirt sponsorship had they gone down to the Championship.
An online petition from Blues fan Ben Melvin urging the club to abandon the deal has achieved more than 30,000 signatories since its launch.
Under the Premier League's plans they want to see all 20 of their member clubs having abandoned front of shirt betting sponsorship within the next three years. The League was seeking support from clubs in an attempt to head off potential legislation from Government and an outright ban. Under the proposal, a voluntary ban would come into effect at the start of the coming season but would allow existing deals to run their course, providing they expired no later than the 2024/25 campaign. Perimeter advertising around stadiums would still be permitted.
Premier League rules mean that approval from at least 14 clubs is required for a vote to be approved.
But the planned vote has been pushed back due to the political crisis that has enveloped Westminster in recent days, with a slew of MP resignations culminating in Prime Minister Boris Johnson being forced to resign as Conservative Party leader and, eventually, Prime Minister.
While the proposals are likely to be discussed at the next Premier League shareholder meeting on July 26 a delay in the publishing of the Government's white paper on the gambling industry has arisen due to Chris Philp, the gambling minister, having resigned from his position earlier this week. His report had been due in a matter of weeks.
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