Leeds United could suffer £10m annual losses as Premier League agree new rules for gambling firms on shirt sponsorships
Leeds United could suffer an annual loss of up to £10m after the Premier League agreed to new rules to ban gambling firms appearing on the front of shirts.
The Whites are currently sponsored by SBOTOP, a branch of an online gambling firm from Asia, and are one of eight clubs in the top flight with a gambling company appearing on the front of their shirts.
But the Premier League have now agreed a voluntary ban on such deals, with a three-year window to honour existing deals, according to The Times (29 March).
According to the report, clubs could suffer an income shortage of anything between £5-10m annually as gambling companies usually pay high sums to get their logo on a Premier League shirt.
But with the ban likely to be voted in this summer, Leeds will be looking for a new sponsor at the end of their existing deal and are likely to be hit with a lesser deal than they currently have.
Blow
The “Big Six” in the Premier League don’t have any gambling companies sponsoring them on the front of their shirts, so this is a rule change that is likely to take effect and hurt the smaller clubs once again.
Eight teams in the Premier League will be hurt by this new rule, and while it’s being agreed by the majority of the clubs a £10m loss to some is far worse than it is for others.
Obviously Leeds aren’t anywhere near as financially troubled as some clubs are, and the likelihood of new owners by the time this takes effect is high with the 49ers Enterprise likely to take over this summer.
They will hopefully be able to attract new sponsors with big cheques to soften the blow, but if not then we’ll have to find a way to plug that gap another way.
With that said though, it is the right decision by the league because gambling has become far too prominent in the game and it’s nice to see that Leeds won’t be part of it going forward.
In other Leeds news, Victor Orta could be set for a shock departure this summer as dots begin to be connected.
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