UK gambling industry veteran Mark McGuinness insists the gambling act review is not the only reason for operators to reconsider their relationship with British sports clubs and fans.
McGuinness is currently head of digital marketing at The Pools, an historic UK sports pool betting business destined to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2023. He has worked in the gambling industry for decades, having held roles at Betdaq, BetOlimp and Sportpesa in recent years.
In conversation with iGaming NEXT, McGuinness said: “I suppose from the sidelines, the gambling industry is quite frankly viewed as a pariah in terms of sport, because they’re not actually giving back to the sport per se.
“Obviously, they’re giving back in terms of sponsorship, in pounds and pence, but there have been companies that are a bit more integrated into the whole fan base that ask themselves: how can we work with the club?
“Sky Bet has been particularly good with what it has done for the championship and the lower leagues as well,” he added.
Mark McGuinness: “I suppose from the sidelines, the gambling industry is quite frankly viewed as a pariah in terms of sport, because they’re not actually giving back to the sport per se.”
Sky Bet is locked in an 11-year deal as the title sponsor of the English Football League and the brand has become synonymous with professional football below the Premier League.
The long-term activation goes far beyond shirt sponsorship, via a three-league rights deal that includes exclusive club website content, stadium branding and live streamed matches.
“There are certainly some examples of excellence, and they’re not just trying to prey on football fans for their own revenue purposes,” said McGuinness. “Actually, it’s more about the brand and brand activation, and how they can ingratiate themselves with the fans.”
In 2019, McGuinness spent six months working as an operations manager at Sportpesa. He was based in Liverpool while the business sponsored the blue half of Merseyside in Everton.
Recalling his own experience of top-flight shirt sponsorship, he added: “I think the club and the brand have to be more aligned. At Everton, they were very specific in what the brands could and could not do, and where it needed to distance itself from.
“Clubs have leverage now where they clearly don’t need the commercial investment. I think they’ll be doing it strictly on their own terms when dealing with gambling operators.”
“That meant we at Sportpesa understood their values as a club and what they wanted to do in the community, and how we could support that.
“Clubs have leverage now where they clearly don’t need the commercial investment. I think they’ll be doing it strictly on their own terms when dealing with gambling operators.”
Everton eventually cancelled its sponsorship deal with Sportpesa, with the African operator embroiled in controversy due to an ongoing tax dispute in its domestic market of Kenya.
At the time, Everton CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale said that in an ideal world, the club would prefer to work with a different type of sponsor outside of the betting industry.
Despite her comments, the club has faced a backlash from fans this summer after striking a lucrative front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with global crypto betting outfit Stake.com.
Premier League clubs are scheduled to vote on a voluntary ban on front-of-shirt sponsorships next month in a late bid to avoid government intervention on the issue.
“Gambling companies haven’t looked at how they can integrate, or properly develop a rapport with the fanbase or the club itself, instead of just advertising the latest odds. That, clearly, has been their undoing.”
With front-of-shirt deals firmly in the regulatory crosshairs, McGuinness believes it’s high time brands focused on more subtle marketing activations.
“I think gambling companies are always going in with the sledgehammer approach,” McGuinness told iGaming NEXT. “And I think partly that’s been driven by the relaxation in sponsorship regulation. Since then, I think the industry has come to the conclusion that it’s boom or bust.
“They go in there because they know the regulators are going to come in at some point and say enough is enough, and eventually, it’ll go the same way as tobacco and alcohol.”
McGuinness would stop short of banning front-of-shirt sponsorships altogether, however, and admits the “pendulum may have swung too far” towards overregulation at present.
“But I think that’s partly because gambling companies haven’t looked at how they can integrate, or properly develop a rapport with the fanbase or the club itself, instead of just advertising the latest odds.
“That, clearly, has been their undoing,” he concludes.
The Premier League has asked clubs to back a three-year plan to phase out gambling front-of-shirt sponsorships to prevent a government-imposed ban.
According to Sky News, the voluntary ban would come into effect at the start of the new season in August but would not affect existing deals, provided they run no longer than the 2024-25 campaign.
The 20 top-flight clubs have been given one week to decide on the plan. If at least 14 clubs vote in favour, the phase out would be adopted immediately.
The proposal sent to clubs yesterday (4 July) is widely seen as a preemptive move to avoid stricter rules. For example, shirt sleeve sponsorships by gambling companies may still be permitted under the voluntary action.
As part of the review of 2005 Gambling Act, the UK government is currently discussing whether football sponsorships should be prohibited, or at least regulated, under tighter restrictions.
Nine of the 20 Premier League teams were involved with betting companies last season.
Everton hit headlines in June after agreeing a front-of-shirt deal with Stake.com.
The club however faced a backlash after supporters disapproved of the partnership, but they are not the only Premier League club to have signed a gambling sponsorship ahead of the new campaign.
While the Premier League declined to comment to Sky News, it is understood the government will still make a final decision on the matter.
Meanwhile, the BBC has reported that a voluntary ban is being discussed between the Premier League and the government and could offer “a middle ground” for clubs which hope to avert any legislation on the much-debated topic.
Gambling front-of-shirt sponsorships are already banned in European markets including Italy and Spain.
Stake.com has ramped up its aggressive marketing drive by securing a lucrative front-of-shirt deal with Premier League club Everton.
The multi-year partnership – officially due to commence on 1 July – will become the highest value sponsorship deal in the Merseyside club’s 144-year history.
The agreement will see the Stake brand feature on both men’s and women’s playing shirts, in addition to screens and media backdrops at home stadium Goodison Park and training ground Finch Farm, as well as across the club’s digital media platforms.
Established in 2017, Stake has quickly grown to become one of the industry’s largest online casinos with millions of users worldwide.
The crypto-centric operator has shot to fame in the US by partnering with influencers and brand ambassadors including Canadian rapper Drake, UFC champions Israel Adesanya and José Aldo and former Manchester City striker Sergio Agüero.
Drake x @Stake pic.twitter.com/vdkGDnp1wt
— Drizzy (@Drake) March 4, 2022
Stake is licensed by the Gambling Commission via its white-label agreement with TGP Europe. It is not permitted to offer cryptocurrency betting in the UK, however.
The operator previously had a sponsorship agreement with Watford, who were relegated from the Premier League last season.
Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale, CEO at Everton, said: “Stake is an ambitious organisation with impressive growth plans and we’re all very excited to enter into a partnership with them at this stage in their journey.
“My talented colleagues in our new revenue team have made excellent progress in recent months and worked tirelessly to secure what is the biggest main partnership deal in the club’s history.
“I’d like to congratulate them on this achievement and, on behalf of everyone at the club, express my gratitude to Stake for choosing Everton as a long-term partner.
“Finally, I am pleased to say that we have already been working together with Stake on some exciting activities and content for our local and international supporters and we look forward to sharing more detail on these plans soon,” she added.
Everton’s newly expanded commercial team opted to end its previous agreement with car retailer Cazoo earlier than planned, paving the way for Stake to sign on.
Everton CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale: “My talented colleagues in our new revenue team have made excellent progress in recent months and worked tirelessly to secure what is the biggest main partnership deal in the club’s history.”
Stake head of acquisition Akhil Sarin said: “We are incredibly proud to be partnering with Everton, a club steeped in tradition and with a passionate and loyal fanbase respected the world over.
“Everton is a club that perfectly complements our own growth ambitions as we seek to expand our presence globally and strengthen our top-tier sports sponsorship portfolio.
“It’s a huge honour for everyone at Stake to be joining the Everton family and playing our part in supporting the club in the transition to the new stadium. We look forward to celebrating this most exciting chapter in the club’s history with Evertonians everywhere.”
Everton’s deal with Stake was secured at a time where most top-flight clubs appear to be pulling away from gambling sponsorships with the UK gambling act currently under review.
The review appears set to impose tight restrictions on the regulated sector, including stake limits for online casino. Football sponsorships are also rumoured to be in the crosshairs, although a ban is unlikely to be imposed in time for next season.