The 2018-2019 English Championship season kicks off today. Logically, all teams have already released their kits for the 2018-2019 - 17 of the 24 teams' kits feature a betting sponsor on the front.
via @KitCrimes
Nine English Premier League teams are sponsored by betting firms. So just 11 Premier League teams and seven Championship teams have non-betting main sponsors - Millwall, Reading, Rotherham, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, West Brom and Wigan are the only Championship teams NOT sponsored by a betting company.
Premier League Teams With Betting Shirt Sponsors
Bournemouth – Mansion 88
Burnley – LaBa 360
Crystal Palace – ManBetX
Everton – SportPesa
Fulham – Dafabet
Huddersfield – OPE
Newcastle United – Fun88
West Ham – Betway
Wolves – W88
Championship Teams With Betting Shirt Sponsors
Aston Villa – 32Red
Blackburn – 10Bet
Birmingham City – 888sport
Brentford – LeoVegas
Bristol City – Dunder
Bolton – Betfred
Derby County – 32Red
Ipswich – Magical Vegas
Hull City – SportPesa
Leeds United – 32Red
Middlesbrough – 32Red
Norwich – LeoVegas
Nottingham Forest – BetBright
Preston – 32Red
QPR – Royal Panda
Stoke City – bet365
Swansea – BETUK.com
“This is worrying,” Gambling Watch UK’s Professor Jim Orford told PA Sport. “There is evidence that gambling is becoming ever more normalised, particularly among young people, so that increasingly betting is seen as part and parcel of following and supporting one’s favourite sport or team.”
“Many people think gambling is now out of control in Britain which has the most liberal online gambling regulations of any European country,” Orford added.
Marc Etches, the chief executive of GambleAware, agrees. “I think we are at a tipping point in terms of the relationship between professional sports and gambling,” he said. We have a generation of fans who believe you have to bet on football to enjoy it and that is disturbing and concerning. The time is now for a much-needed debate about how we do this. Watching football and having a bet is becoming normalised but we’re not talking about it.”
Sky Bet sponsor all three of the EFL’s divisions (Championship, League One, League Two). Betting firms are not allowed to sponsor clubs' youth team shirts or replica shirts sold in children’s sizes.
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