The Foxes Trust welcomes the news that our club’s main shirt sponsorship has returned to King Power for the coming season.
This comes in stark contrast to new main shirt sponsor deals recently announced by Aston Villa, Brentford and Chelsea which all feature betting companies. Given that the Premier League will be prohibiting main shirt sponsorship from gambling companies from the end of the 2025/26 season, this might suggest that clubs have given greater importance to the money obtained, than to the principal reasons why that ban is being made.
The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust published the results of a survey of their members which found that 77 per cent of fans disagreed with the use of a betting company as the club’s primary shirt sponsor. They stated “The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust [CST] does not believe that it is in the best interests of our members for Chelsea FC to associate with an online casino and betting company as the primary shirt sponsor.”
Gambling With Lives, a charity set up by families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, tweeted that the Chelsea decision was “completely tone deaf.”
Yesterday Head of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard revealed that the NHS is nearly doubling the number of gambling addiction clinics to 15 after a record number of referrals, with 1,389 patients referred in 22/23, Pritchard commented during an interview on the BBC.
“It would be really great to see the gambling industry, and also organisations like football clubs, really think seriously about their responsibilities here,” she said. Shirt sponsorship deals mean “that it’s kids that are seeing every day now messages that say gambling is OK.”
Pritchard also described severe gambling addiction as a “cruel disease” and a “life destroyer”.
Earlier last week Area Coroner Ivan Cartwright concluded that Leicester City fan Luke Ashton died as a result of a gambling disorder and a lack of meaningful intervention from Betfair.
Back in 2021, the Foxes Trust helped promote a walk organised by Luke’s wife to raise money for Gambling With Lives, who provide support for bereaved relatives and offer advice to those struggling with gambling addiction
In the Championship 23/24 season 25% of clubs carry shirt sponsorship from gambling companies and the main league sponsor is Sky Bet.
The Foxes Trust, along with many other fans groups across the country, continue to be firmly against sponsorship from gambling companies and are pleased our club has not followed that route.
Sources:
Re Coroners verdict: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-66053240https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-66053240
NHS England head urges football clubs to consider gambling ad impact – BBC News
Chelsea criticised over proposed gambling shirt sponsor with 77% of fans against deal (inews.co.uk)