The UK government is intent on banning or at least heavily regulating gambling sponsorships of English Premier League teams, which will change the state of play for affiliate marketing, betting bonus sites and even the EPL itself.
New rules which came into force in October 2022 to increase the protection of under 18s in regards to sports betting and gambling have meant more stringent marketing campaigns and less visible brand advertising across the industry.
Currently, major EPL teams are heavily sponsored by gambling companies. Both Birmingham City and Coventry City are sponsored by BoyleSports, Middlesbrough by Unibet, Stoke City by Bet365, Sunderland by SpreadEx and Watford by stake.com. The gambling industry's 6 total sponsorships of EPL teams makes it the largest sponsor across the board. The proposed new regulation could see less visible brand campaigns within the clubs, and less players lending their faces to sports betting promotions.
The changes could also have implications for kit design. No longer will shirts be permitted to have Unibet on the front, it will be regulated to kit sleeve only. The reduction of visible branding and less playful marketing campaigns could lead a decrease in traffic to bookmakers' websites and therefore a reduced number of people betting on sports.
The pendulum could swing both ways for affiliate marketing. On one hand, the reduction of branding on kits and in stadiums could lead punters – particularly those new to betting – to use comparison and affiliate websites to find bookmakers, as they are able to advertise more openly.
On the other hand, if the UK decides to swing the same way as the Netherlands or Canada and bans the overt advertising of sports bonuses, it will leave affiliate marketers with a hard sell to UK EPL punters.
The overall upside of more stringent marketing will be the squeezing out of already scant illegal betting sites, which will safeguard the young and the vulnerable as intended. The delayed Gambling Commission report has set things back on the schedule, so the stepping in of the Advertising Standards Agency with this new regulation is a positive step towards serious safer gambling.
It is highly unlikely that these changes will be implemented quickly in the UK, so there is plenty of time for affiliate marketers to develop new strategies and for the bookmakers to rethink their expensive marketing campaigns, so the future of sports betting on the EPL for both punters and affiliates remains highly optimistic in spite of these stringent regulation proposals.
