U.K. Premier League teams may suffer from government’s bookie decisions

With additional government taxation, point of consumption regulations on internet gambling, restrictions on betting limits and retail betting shop locations, it’s been a depressing couple of months for UK online bookmaking companies, but British Premier League football clubs could be feeling the impact as well, according to a report in the Financial Times.

In an article by Roger Blitz the respected business publication says that the clubs could be impacted to the tune of GBP 90 million on income  “…because of a clampdown by the gambling regulator on online betting operators that use the league’s international popularity to promote their websites to Asian audiences.”

Blitz names Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton among a number of top clubs “…that have sponsorship deals with online operators that take very few bets from UK customers but benefit from the Premier League’s popularity in Asian betting markets.”

He uses Dafabet as an example, claiming that the company sponsors Aston Villa’s shirts. Others, such as SBOBet, 188 Bet and 138.com, “….pay clubs for perimeter advertising at home matches, but often in Asian languages,” in order to win business from football fans watching overseas.

Such sponsorship deals are at risk following the UK Gambling Commission‘s ruling that from August 2014 it would grant U.K. licenses only to operators that are British facing businesses and either currently transact with British consumers or have a clear business plan for doing so, the FT article notes.

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