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Advertising of Bookmakers at Football Stadiums: To Allow or Prohibit

Advertising of Bookmakers at Football Stadiums: To Allow or Prohibit

Sports betting has long been a part of heated debates and discussions. On the one hand, the community does not consider this something harmful, but the other part has a very negative attitude towards it.

What is the reason for this dispute? Each region has different reasons. For example, in England, there is a large number of addicted gamblers; in Muslim countries, gambling is prohibited by religion. But there are other aspects to this, which are discussed in more detail below.

The Debate Surrounding Bookmaker Advertising

Bookmaker advertising has been a standard practice for quite some time. From the very beginning, the main thing bookmakers had to be careful about was not advertising their platforms to children.

Literally, every part of the stadium is filled with banners and large screens with website logos. The easiest solution is to ban advertising completely, but this is not the wisest decision from the marketing point of view and in terms of making money. So there are positive and negative sides to advertising of no limit bookmakers at football stadiums.

Pros

Cons

One of the loudest discussions about advertising was in the Premier League, as British rulers, particularly Boris Johnson, formed laws that tightened control over gambling advertising. Fortunately, the legislation only affected the players' football uniforms: bookmakers' logos could only be on the sleeve or shorts. Banners and LED screens remained unchanged.

The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) was one of the first to address advertising issues. The main message of the UKGC was that bookmakers (and the teams they sponsor) actively promote the fundamentals of gambling and publicise the risks of betting. It is difficult to say whether the number of football fans addicted to gambling has changed, but in general, this is standard practice at the moment.

Impact on Fans and Clubs

A good half of football clubs attract quite serious money to their budgets through advertising by bookmakers. Where does this money go? The answer is quite simple:

As a result, this money does not go away in an unknown direction or just sit on a shelf. On the contrary, the day in football clubs almost never stops. Moreover, purchasing players is expensive, exceeding billions almost every season. Are fans happy with this distribution of money? Of course, if the team produces good results in the season. Moreover, it is always more pleasant to place a bet on your favourite FC, knowing that the team has replenished its roster with a new forward or promising newcomers.

International Comparisons: Best Practices

Since Britain has been mentioned more than once, let's turn our attention to other countries. Also, for FCs from this country, bookmakers are not the main sponsors (although they bring a lot through stadium advertising). In Italy, for example, bookmakers' advertising, including logos on uniforms, banners in the stadium, etc., is completely prohibited. In return, Juventus, Inter, Lazio, and other major league clubs signed NFT/crypto sponsors.

However, like in Spain, the ban on bookmaker advertising applies only to local companies. Advertising banners from Asian, American, or African companies can be displayed in the stadium, on uniforms, social media, etc., without strict prohibitions.

This is a good decision since, at one point, Italian teams (more precisely, 41 out of 42) lost their sponsors and more than 90 million euros of sponsorship money.

In France, bookmakers are the sponsors of the top clubs; in turn, Germany is nearby, but there is no such sponsor in the Bundesliga at all. Fans are against betting and betting advertising, so clubs do not want to risk losing the honour and love of fans for the sake of money.

The practice is also considered in other countries but at a different level: some doubt the bans, such as Scotland, while others are considering a ban at the state level (Belgium).

The Future of Bookmaker Advertising in Football

The issue of bookmaker advertising (both inside and outside football) has been discussed for a very long time. Because of this, the legislative framework and the general perception of gambling and sports betting are changing. Over several years, there will be changes toward harmonious interaction because, despite all the risks, sports betting brings a lot of money to the FC. For football, as you know, money is very important.

Thus, bookmakers are being replaced by various crypto companies, which (for now) are not considered potential providers of theoretically risky features such as betting.




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