The Premier League has new rules coming in that will change sponsorship on the front of shirts forever.
With a government report expected next month on the impact of gambling firms in sport, the Prem has jumped the gun to outright ban all gambling sponsors from the front of shirts. This will come into effect in the next few seasons, giving a grace period to those who already have deals in place.
This affects eight clubs right now in the top tier – Bournemouth, Brentford, Everton, Fulham, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Southampton and West Ham United – with the rest of the pyramid being affected too. Sky Bet sponsors the Football League, with other betting companies having their sponsors on the fronts of shirts up and down the English game.
"Reports are that clubs will get around three years to finish their existing deals and that it's only valid for the very front of shirts," FFT's Adam Clery explains in the video above.
"It's not as dramatic as it originally sounds but it's still significant given how prominent it actually is."
Adam sums up the reasoning as to why this rule is coming in pretty well – so we won't spoil it for you – but this new ban on gambling sponsors follows years of pressure from charities and groups who have campaigned for football clubs to show more responsibility when it comes to the prominence of gambling in sport.
If we're about to see a mass exodus of gambling firms from the game, how will that affect clubs financially… and what will replace it?
