Football sponsorships provide high visibility for operators and much-needed funds for clubs and leagues. Yet betting sponsorships are at risk of being frozen out following regulatory moves in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The gambling industry has been by far the most active sponsor in the European football market in recent years, with 42 unique team deals across the top 10 leagues in 2023\/24, worth an estimated annual value of over \u00a3100m, according to analytics firm Global Data<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The benefits to both sides are clear; regulated gambling operators get access to a highly-engaged football audience and the clubs maximise revenue potential. Operators have often been prepared to overpay clubs, with analysis from The Sponsor suggesting many have invested more than \u2018fair market value\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The industry magazine says Aston Villa<\/strong>\u2019s \u00a340m sponsorship deal with Betano<\/strong> represents a \u00a313.6m increase over the club\u2019s fair market value of \u00a326.4m, while Nottingham Forest\u2019<\/strong>s \u00a314m agreement with Kaiyun Sports is more than double the club\u2019s fair market value of \u00a35.2m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A changing landscape<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But the landscape is rapidly changing across Europe, with restrictions on gambling advertising coming into force in many countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, France and England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ban on gambling sponsorships in the Netherlands<\/strong>, which comes into force on July 1, is feared to have far reaching impacts on Dutch clubs, with estimated losses of \u20ac70m. All but one of the 34 professional clubs have deals with betting partners and the smaller teams are expected to be particularly badly affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For operators, limits on advertising are already stringent in the Netherlands, with a ban on TV, radio and out of home. This, tallied with stricter player protection measures implemented last October and gambling tax rising to over 34% in January is creating a difficult environment for operators, according to Steven Vrolijk,<\/strong> Managing Partner at XY Legal Solutions<\/strong> and founder of the affiliate kitemark group, QMRA<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany companies are struggling to cope with the high compliance and tax burdens,\u201d he tells Gaming&Co<\/strong>. \u201cLand-based operators are collapsing, and online operators are surrendering their licences; recent examples include LiveScore Bet<\/strong> and Tombola<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they are unlikely to be the last operators to exit the Netherlands market unless regulations are eased, Vrolijk warns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe tax burden in the Netherlands is exceptionally high and compliance costs are steep and often unpredictable, as regulations frequently change,\u201d he says. \u201cGiven the current regulatory climate, it would not be surprising if more operators decide to withdraw from the market at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a r<\/strong>eport released last week, the Dutch regulator, KSA, rather than a trade lobby group, admitted that while measures such as monthly deposit limits protect players, GGR for legal operators dropped 10% in H2 2024 and that channelisation rates were much lower than previously thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, channelling rates in the market are high at 91%, but the KSA<\/strong> explained that a new calculation method (provided by the Dutch Lottery) that looks at the Google search volume for legal and illegal providers, showed that \u201cthe channelling based on GGR is considerably lower than originally estimated\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The KSA previously estimated it at around 80%, but the new method calculated it at around 60% and following the introduction of the new rules, it has dropped to around 50%. \u201cThis means that although the number of players who play illegally is still low, half of the money lost now disappears into the illegal sector,\u201d said the KSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Significant impact<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are similar fears in Belgium<\/strong>, where a ban on advertising was passed in July 2023 and came into effect this January. The new regulations have had \u201ca significant impact on the sector\u201d, one industry source tells G&C and \u201chas led to groups (including vulnerable people) being even more exposed to illegal operators\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Belgium\u2019s regulated operators were not consulted on these measures and while they acknowledge the need for a legal framework, \u201cno country is an island, and ignoring the impact of our new online consumption habits can have consequences that are amplified by regulation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Added the source: \u201cIn Belgium, for example, the ban on advertising in the Royal Decree widens the gap considerably: legal operators become invisible, weakening the market. As a result, only the public operator and the illegal players remain visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n