Gambling operators now account for more than half of front-of-shirt sponsors in the English Premier League, with AFC Bournemouth entering into a partnership with Asia-facing sports betting brand bj88.
Some 11 Premier League teams now feature gambling sponsorship on the front of players’ shirts. All but one club – Chelsea – have now confirmed their main sponsors ahead of the 2024-25 season, which begins next month.
What is bj88?
AFC Bournemouth players will this season wear shirts emblazoned with the bj88 logo. An unknown brand in the UK, bj88 is powered by TGP Europe, the same company behind the Stake.com brand. TGP Europe is licensed by the Gambling Commission in Great Britain.
While currently focused on Asia, bj88 will seemingly soon expand into the UK. Visitors to the newly established BJ-88.co.uk website see a message saying a new sportsbook and casino offering will be available to UK players “very soon”. Bj88 also has a presence in Latin America.
Under its deal with the club, bj88 will make a financial donation towards various community projects. The brand will also work with AFC Bournemouth to promote responsible and safer gambling.
This is not bj88’s first foray into sports sponsorship. It is an official partner of Bologna in Italy’s Serie A and has also worked with cricketer Kevin Pietersen.
As for AFC Bournemouth, commercial director Rob Mitchell said the new partnership was a record deal for the club.
“Their investment will have huge significance to help us compete in the Premier League both on and off the pitch,” he said.
Following the Premier League crowd
AFC Bournemouth joins Aston Villa, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leicester, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, West Ham and Wolves in featuring gambling brands on their shirts during the 2024-25 season.
The mass influx is despite clubs last April collectively agreeing to halt accepting gambling-related sponsorship on the front of matchday shirts. This will not come into effect until the 2025-26 season. Deals agreed in the lead up to this are permitted as long as they conclude ahead of 2025-26.
The impending ban has seemingly had little impact on current activity. Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Wolves have also all agreed similar shirt deals with Asia-focused brands during recent weeks.
Teams will still be allowed to work with gambling operators in other ways, such as having official partnerships in place and featuring branding on surfaces around the stadium and on training wear. Wolves, for example, last season featured the LeoVegas brand on the front of its training kit.
Socially responsible sponsorship codes of conduct
Against this backdrop, the Premier League this week joined several other UK sporting bodies in issuing new ‘socially responsible’ codes of conduct for gambling sponsorships to protect vulnerable viewers.
Focusing on football, the Premier League, the English Football League (EFL), the Football Association and the Women’s Super League formally agreed to adopt a new code. This covers gambling sponsorships used in English football, as outlined in the government’s gambling white paper.
Codes will be implemented at the start of the 2024-25 season and focus on four core areas: protection, social responsibility, reinvestment and integrity.