Gambling advertising has become an important aspect of modern-day sports. It has been normalized so much that to the regular viewer it is hardly out of ordinary. The key reason behind this is the massive funding sports get from online gambling establishments and casinos. For example Spor Toto, Turkish gambling has contributed $29.5 million to the English Premier League football emerging as the biggest sponsor, followed by a $28 million deal with the Turkish Süper Lig.
These donations mainly give them the right to advertise their logos on the team jerseys. But since many countries have strict laws against Star Sportsmen promoting gambling, the advertisers have found a blind spot. They have started to advertise through commentators and former plays and have also refrained from using words like “betting” or “gambling”.
In favor of the terms like the “wagering” partner. Since the word is devoid of all its negative connotations. As far as Sports betting is concerned, thegruelingtruth.com has been covering a list of credible sports books which provides the best experience, irrespective of their association battles with Football clubs.
And because the Betting and Gaming companies provide sports with much-needed funding, organizers have no choice but to turn a blind eye to disguised betting advertisements. It can be argued that gambling’s sponsorship of football has had a major role to play in normalizing online gambling to a generation of young people.
This has caused a lot of controversies because this means that a generation of young minds can be exposed to gambling advertisements. But in their defense, the gambling industry has emphasized that the people promoting gambling on the screen are not people the youngsters relate with and thus would not be drawn in before they reach the legal age. This argument has revealed a major blind spot in the regulations of gambling acts.
Thus, many activists have argued that football should not become a carrier of harm related to gambling and thus should be separated from the gambling industry. But this would mean a major lack of revenue that is needed to keep these tournaments going.
Relation between Gambling and Football
There has been a significant increase in gambling-related ads in football in recent years, in addition to other entertainment available in the Canadian markets. That is mostly because these two are mutual benefactors, while the gambling industry gives generous donations and funding for advertisement in football, the gambling industry also benefits from football through sports betting which generates a huge amount of revenue. Thus, causing an explosion in their marketing and sponsorship schemes for football. Recently after the world cup, it has been seen that football itself has become a betting hub for gamblers. Be it in-play bets on the corner numbers, yellow cards, or throw-ins.
It is not surprising that football has been targeted by gambling companies in an industrialized manner. Sponsorships ranging from advertising, and media coverage, to shirt sponsorship, have all been used openly using the ‘blind spot’ as long as they do not clearly promote gambling. Though it is quite evident to people with experience. The increase in the sponsorships from gambling companies in opposition to the diminishing revenues from other advertisers has also aided the increase of such advertisements.
For instance, major betting companies in the UK offer billboard sponsorships on the game pitches for broadcasting during matches. Along with hoardings and other gambling-related logos which are placed intelligently throughout the matches.
Since both Football and Gambling benefit from each other, they have figured out a way to co-exist without falling under the different regulation acts passed by the state.
