Rick Parry, the president of the English Football League (EFL), warned that banning sponsorship of companies in the betting and gaming industry would be detrimental to smaller clubs.
The UK government will review the gambling market legislation in the coming weeks and opposing groups have pointed out that the agreements between football clubs and bookmakers contribute to the increase in gambling addiction.
But Parry thinks this is unnecessary and would only lead smaller clubs to lose revenue. “There is no evidence to suggest that a ban on sponsorship will reduce the occurrence of problematic gambling,” he said.
He added that the EFL, which is sponsored by Sky Bet, will present a case to be analyzed that will try to prove that the increased gambling problem is not associated with sponsorship in football.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected sports around the world, even the biggest franchises have lost revenue due to the lack of fans in the stadiums. However, no one felt this impact more strongly than smaller clubs.
With ticket sales falling, small clubs do not have a global fan base to cling to like traditional clubs.
According to Deloitte, ticket sales accounted for more than a fifth of the total revenue of clubs in the English Football League Championship, second division of English football, in the 2018/2019 season.
In all, 24 Championship clubs have deals with bookmakers
Parry says banning bookmaker partnerships could lead to a loss of revenue of more than £ 40 million, a sum he says EFL clubs cannot give up.
Currently, 24 teams in the English second division have signed contracts and betting marks on the uniforms, and imposing this prohibition would be catastrophic, according to the manager.
