Following the announcement that BC Game would be our shirt sponsor for seasons 2024/25 and 2025/26, something the club described as ‘one of the most valuable in the Leicester City’s history’, the Foxes Trust published an update on 7 July. This set out our disappointment and the view that the decision seemed completely at odds with a club previously lauded for its corporate responsibility and good community relations.
Since then, we have seen that not all fans feel the same as the Trust.
Some feel that whether someone gambles is a matter for them (they have the freedom to choose), and others indicate that if the extra money from BC Game helps to keep us in the Premier League, they are happy to take the money … after all other clubs do it.
The Trust is not opposed to gambling, but is opposed to the way it’s become increasingly part of the game and the way it can encourage the young and vulnerable, who see their heroes and role models wearing a shirt emblazoned with a gambling company logo, to explore just what an organisation like BC Game has to offer.
The club have told us what BC Game offer. It’s a cryptocurrency gaming platform, and ’its platforms use the benefits of blockchain technology to provide crypto enthusiasts with a transparent, fair and secure gaming environment, where outcomes can be independently verified through the integrity of the blockchain.’
But not in this country … because their cryptocurrency gaming isn’t licenced in the UK.
On their UK website their gambling offers are through their Sportsbook (betting on the Premier League and other sports), casino and slots, and ‘Virtual Sports’ … the E-Sports market.
If you want a bit of the crypto action you’ll need to go to their world-wide site where you’ll be told it’s not licensed in the UK.
Why is that … because the Gambling Commission thinks it may be dodgy that’s why – https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/licensees-and-businesses/guide/page/blockchain-technology-and-crypto-assets
The Club presumably did their due diligence on the sponsor, so they know this. The fact that they took the money suggests that they rate the financial windfall higher than any ethical concerns.
But sadly, the overall picture is worse than that.
In April 2023 the Premier League clubs (and we were still one at the time) agreed to withdraw gambling companies front of shirt adverts by the start of the 2025/26 season. The idea of this two-year transition was to help clubs who already had gambling sponsorship to gradually withdraw from them.
But what has happened? In 2022/23 there were eight premier league clubs who had shirt sponsors from the gambling industry. Now there are there are ten, and we are one of them.
Instead of a gradual reduction, new clubs have gone to the honey pot. Apart from ourselves, Crystal Palace and Southampton have decided to ‘cash in’ for these last couple of years. The sense that top-flight football values money over all other considerations is hardly a new concept. This relationship with the marginal fringes of the gambling industry is just another example.
The only club that seems to have backed away from betting sponsorship is Bournemouth, who appear to have replaced Dafabet with a non-gambling shirt sponsor.
Other Leicester City fan groups are also unhappy with the sponsorship deal.
The Fosse Way published this excellent article ‘BC Shame. Leicester City take the money and run’ and David Bevan, who wrote that article was approached by the Big Issue for his thoughts in their latest article about club’s stepping up gambling sponsorship on shirts.
Union FS in their tweet (X) of the 9 July referred to the ‘morally questionable new shirt sponsor (to say the least)’
We remain opposed to the deal done with BC Game. But it’s unlikely to be cancelled.
If you agree with our viewpoint, what can you do? Well, if you want the new 2024/25 shirt you can order it without the sponsor’s name on. The Fosse Way explains how here – Buying a shirt without a sponsor on it
Or you could order the Women’s shirt with the King Power logo on it – King Power announced as principle partner of LCFC Women
And you could write to the club expressing your views about the BC Game deal.
Whether you agree with us or not, we suggest that you have a read of Annie Ashton’s article in the Guardian about how gambling killed her Leicester City supporting husband.
More reading:
BBC Sport 13 April 2023 – Premier League clubs to ban gambling sponsorship from the front of shirts