Gambling Adverts in Football: Play Your Cards Right

It was revealed last month that three posts on Twitter by Betfred, which featured global boxing phenomenon Anthony Joshua, had been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following an investigation by the regulator.

This decision was made on the basis that Joshua's appearance meant that the advert was likely to strongly appeal to under-18s.

Indeed, these posts were highlighted for investigation through the utilisation of AI technology, which looked for online adverts that could contravene the ASA's rules. 

This decision was followed by another banned tweet by Sky Bet featuring Gary Neville.

The tweet in question was posted on 9 February 2023 and included a video from The Overlap podcast, whereby the former Manchester United player talked about which side may be crowned Premier League champions.

However, Sky Bet's logo was featured during the video, and the words 'Brought to you by Sky Bet' appeared at its conclusion.

The ASA determined that Gary Neville was indeed 'likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s'; therefore, the post breached advertising rules. 

The following article by our Commercial team will discuss the ASA and several of its decisions before providing details on the sentiment against gambling advertisements that is spreading throughout the footballing world. 

Following the above rule change, the ASA has provided various decisions in this area, aided by technology known as the 'Active Ad Monitoring system', which uses AI to 'proactively search' for adverts online, potentially infringing the rules.

Ads that have fallen foul of the regulations thus far include those featuring not just then-Premier League players Philippe Coutinho and Jesse Lingard but also those including non-UK footballers Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. 

However, the appearance of a footballing personality does not automatically result in a violation.

For example, adverts that featured Peter Crouch and Micah Richards were not deemed strongly appealing to under-18s due to the length of time they had been retired from professional football and the fact that their media profiles were primarily adult-orientated. 

Overall, the ASA's tougher approach to gambling adverts in football is part of a wider scrutiny of such advertising in the sport.

A future combination of action by the ASA, campaigning, and the proposed ban of front-of-matchday shirt gambling sponsors means that it will be interesting to see how the gambling industry's historically strong influence in football plays out.

With eight premier league clubs currently featuring front-of-shirt betting sponsorship, there are several considerations which football clubs will need to consider, such as:

• Does the sponsorship agreement contain adequate termination rights - those clubs who feature front-of-shirt gambling sponsors will need to review such agreements to ensure that they have a conclusive way out of the contractual relationship as a result of changes to the legal and regulatory position. If there are not adequate termination rights, the parties may have to mutually negotiate and agree to terminate the agreement early, which may result in either party having to make compensatory payments.
• Could the sponsorship agreements be varied to grant alternative rights – clubs with existing sponsorship agreements in place could explore the option of varying the rights granted under the agreement so that the sponsor is placed in alternative locations such as training kits and the sleeves shirt as opposed to the front of the shirt and more generally, advertisements outside of the match day and training kits. This may include having to review and vary any other sponsorship agreements the club has in place. We expect clubs and gambling companies to work together to produce creative substitutes to deal with this issue.
• Seek alternative sponsorship – with the recent growth of alternative industries such as technology, clubs could look for alternative front-of-shirt sponsorship options, proving to be as lucrative as gambling sponsorship. A clear example was Manchester United's recent announcement of its multi-year front-of-shirt sponsorship agreement with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.'s product, Snapdragon.

It appears that the major issue clubs face will be bridging the gap left by the removal of the revenue created by gambling sponsorship, which is likely to add to the financial strain already faced by many clubs.