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Professional soccer is making some big changes to their uniforms moving forward.
The sport has utilized sponsorships on kits for years now. However, it sounds like the Premier League is aiming to remove gambling sponsorships.
It’s an incredibly big decision, as the Premier League is the first sports league in the UK to remove gambling sponsorships voluntarily.
However, it appears the UK government is in the process of making changes to the legislation of gambling within the country.
League officials released an official statement regarding their decision on the Premier League website.
“Premier League clubs have today collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of clubs’ matchday shirts, becoming the first sports league in the UK to take such a measure voluntarily in order to reduce gambling advertising.”
“The announcement follows an extensive consultation involving the League, its clubs and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of the Government’s ongoing review of current gambling legislation.”
“The Premier League is also working with other sports on the development of a new code for responsible gambling sponsorship.”
“To assist clubs with their transition away from shirt-front gambling sponsorship, the collective agreement will begin at the end of the 2025/26 season.”
And there you have it. It’ll still be a couple of years before we see the gambling sponsorships removed from the front of the kits.
With that said, soccer fans couldn’t help but react to the big news.
A good start 🙌🏼
— Katie Rood (@Roodie_roo) April 13, 2023
Domino’s is ready to be a sponsor.
Talk to us.
— Domino's Pizza UK (@Dominos_UK) April 13, 2023
A ton of fans are ready for the Premier League to remove all of the gambling sponsorships completely.
Excellent. Well done @premierleague
Now do sleeves, backs of shirts, the digital boards around the pitch, the banners on the pitch next to the goals, the half-time big screens, TV adverts AND the actual broadcasters who pay you.@the_bigstep— Tristan Cork Post (@TristanCorkPost) April 13, 2023
With USA sports leagues becoming more involved with sports betting, the UK is doing the opposite.
The Premier League is the first sports organization to make this decision. For that reason, we should begin to see more follow suit.