EPL to Give Up Front-of-Shirt Sponsorships, Will Demand a Transition Period

Premier League teams continue eyeing the idea of removing gambling logos from the front of their jerseys. The clubs hope that moving the gambling advertising to their shirt sleeves would be a good compromise with the government, which is increasingly bullish on cracking down on gambling promotions in pro sports.

The clubs’ intentions first became public a few days ago. The Times said that EPL shareholders will discuss the idea during today’s shareholder meeting. Analysts expect Premier League clubs to reach an agreement with the government and remove the gambling logos from the fronts of their shirts. Instead, the soccer teams will continue to promote their gambling sponsors on the shirt sleeve.

The removal of front-of-shirt sponsorships will be a compromise between the EPL and the British government, which for a time considered banning all EPL gambling sponsorships. The ban remains one of the most discussed measures ahead of the publishing of the long-overdue white paper, which will modernize British gambling laws.

The government will likely refrain from gambling sponsorships if clubs voluntarily agree to move them from the front of the player jerseys.

Clubs Will Likely Demand a Three-year Transition

The EPL clubs will likely vote on the matter in June, during the annual summer meeting. While analysts agree that clubs are likely to agree to move the sponsorships to their players’ sleeves, the soccer organizations will likely demand a three-year transition period.

This transition period will allow clubs to implement the changes without financial drawbacks. Some elite soccer teams benefit a lot from their agreements with gambling operators, with the Times claiming that one team receives as much as £5-10 million thanks to its agreement with a gambling company.

As a result, EPL clubs would prefer if a ban is introduced after their current contracts have expired.

In the meantime, the United Kingdom continues to await the publishing of the notorious white paper. Unfortunately, its release was postponed because of various headwinds and shakeups in UK politics. Boris Johnson’s resignation, followed by the resignation of Liz Truss only added to the woes that prevented the long-awaited document from being published.

Speaking of the white paper, analysts believe that Caesars Entertainment may try to acquire Flutter’s FanDuel brand. According to them, the publishing of the white paper will suppress trading prices for gambling companies, making it a perfect time for M&A activity.