Sunday, December 10, 2006

SPONSORSHIP deals between online gambling companies and football clubs could
be banned in the UK if it is decided that they encourage children to gamble.
The news comes after the Gambling Commission announced that it will
investigate whether shirt sponsorship deals - such as those at Middlesbrough
and Tottenham Hotspur - unfairly expose young fans to online casinos or
gambling sites. Companies such as 888 Holdings, 32 Red, Bet24 and Mansion
are at risk of losing deals with Premiership clubs if a ban is brought in,
while the clubs face being stripped of multi-million pound sponsorships.
According to marketing consultants Brand Rapport, online gambling interest
has helped drive shirt sponsorship deals in Premiership football up by 25
per cent to around £70 million - with Spurs, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa
and Middlesbrough the main clubs to benefit. The commission has said that
the whole issue of football shirts would be examineds. Ministers are also
being put under pressure to prevent problem gambling and to stop gambling
influencing children and vulnerable people. Any sponsorship ban would be in
line with the position taken in France, where representatives of Austrian
gaming company Bwin were recently arrested and charged with illegal
promotion of gambling after agreeing a sponsorship deal with Monaco FC.