La Liga will ban the sponsors of the betting centers from the jerseys
The ban will also be extended to TVs, pitch advertisements and training centers
July 9th, 2020
"Sponsorship of sports shirts or kits will not be eligible". The decisive statement that leaves no misunderstandings refers to the advertising of betting in the world of football, which in the Spanish Liga have the days counted.
The Spanish Government and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs are in fact preparing a new rule on sponsorships which will prohibit the display of the brands of the betting companies on game uniforms and in stadiums, aiming to strengthen what had already been presented at the end of February in an attempt to bridge the regulatory gap in Law 13/2011.
Before the pandemic, in fact, the government had reached an agreement with men in the sector to suppress the so-called "U television" - advertising on the LEDs around the field -, limiting the announcements concerning gambling to the broadcasts that start after 20:00. In addition, the restriction of advertising on television and digital media - such as YouTube - will be introduced, which will be limited to the time slot from 1 to 5 in the morning, as happened between March and June.
But with the new regulation, no team, amateur or professional, will be able to wear a uniform bearing the brand of a bookmaker, on the front, on the sleeve, on the back or on the shorts. The draft was sent yesterday to the European Commission for its evaluation and will subsequently have to be presented to the Congress of Deputies for approval.
Alongside the list of restrictions on companies, the ban has been extended to celebrities - who will no longer be able to promote this type of advertising with their image - and to stadiums and training centers that will no longer be able to display the name of the operators of betting.
Seville, Valencia, Osasuna, Levante, Leganés, Alaves, Granada and Mallorca will be most affected by the project, as bookmakers are the main sponsors of their shirts; in our Serie A the problem would not arise, since no team has signed sponsorship contracts with betting companies, unlike the Premier League where 50% of the teams - including West Ham, Aston Villa, Everton and Newcastle - has entered into agreements with gambling partners for an economic return of £ 349.1 million.