Premier League, FA, EFL and WSL agree code of conduct on betting deals | Premier League
The Premier League, along with the Football Association, the English Football League and the Women's Super League, have published a code of conduct for gambling deals, less than 24 hours after campaigners accused top-flight clubs of Taking money from betting houses before a ban on front-of-shirt sponsors is introduced for the 2026-27 season.
He Premier leagueTogether with the aforementioned stakeholders, they say they have drawn up a voluntary framework to be implemented before the start of this season. Last year, Premier League clubs agreed to remove betting companies from the front of shirts from the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
On Tuesday, Bournemouth announced a “record” deal with Asian bookmaker bj88, bringing the number of top-flight clubs who have confirmed a betting firm as their main shirt sponsor for the upcoming campaign to 11, up from eight last season. Crystal Palace and Wolves have both returned to having betting firms as their shirt sponsors following deals with non-gambling companies.
The authorities list four key principles behind their approach – safeguarding, social responsibility, reinvestment and integrity – but say the overall aim is to ensure gambling sponsorships are conducted responsibly and ensure they “limit the reach to children and those at risk of gambling-related harm”.
The code says that competitions and clubs should only enter into agreements with a gambling company that is licensed by the Game Commission or part of a “white label partnership.” It adds that areas of a stadium designated for the exclusive use of families should not display gambling sponsorship logos.
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Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leicester, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, West Ham and Wolves will all display a betting company on the front of their shirts. The Big Step, a charity founded in 2019 dedicated to removing gambling advertising from football, said clubs continue to “blindly sign these desperate deals for a few extra dollars”.
The long-standing title sponsor of all three EFL divisions (the Championship, League One and League Two) is SkyBet, which first partnered with the league in 2013-14. The EFL says the partnership is “built on a foundation of safer gambling, including a memorandum of understanding setting out how to achieve joint objectives in a socially responsible way.”
