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West Brom and Cardiff City Sign Gambling Sponsorship Deals on Eve of New Season

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Cardiff City Football Club Ground
Cardiff City Stadium (Credit: Jon Candy, flickr)

On the crest of the 2024/25 season, two English Championship clubs have penned agreements with new gambling sponsors – however, the branding won’t appear on the front of their playing shirts.

West Brom and Cardiff City will play in their new kits for the first time this weekend, with Mega Riches and QuinnBet respectively appearing on their shirts.

But the logos of those brands will appear on the back of their shirts – breaking away from the Premier League’s controversial trend of front-of-shirt sponsorship.

Back of the Baggies

For a number of years now, West Brom have been sponsored by Ideal Heating, which gave rise to one of football’s most remarkable mascots in BoilerMan, which is literally a man dressed up as a boiler.

But as is the nature of the modern game, that still leaves sponsorship opportunities available on the back and the sleeves of the Baggies’ shirts, as well as their shorts.

Mega Riches, a new casino brand from Videoslots, has stepped forward to fill the void with a back-of-shirt sponsorship deal – taking over from Mr Vegas, another Videoslots offshoot that held the role during the 2023/24 campaign.

The chief marketing officer at Videoslots, Marc Trucco, commented: “We enjoyed a successful partnership last season with Mr Vegas and we decided to put our new brand Mega Riches on their shoulders this year.

“We look forward to running a number of activations throughout the season to engage with fans and give away some great prizes.”

Bluebirds Singing

Cardiff City Quinnbet Sponsorship

Across the border in Wales, Cardiff City have dedicated the front of their shirt to Visit Malaysia, the travel company to whom the club’s owner – the Malaysian, Vincent Tan – has an obvious connection.

But with just hours until the start of the new Football League season, the Bluebirds have confirmed that they will be bearing the name of QuinnBet on their backs this term.

The Irish sports betting and casino operator will be looking to enhance their brand in their fellow Celtic nation, while enjoying the perks of having their logo on show in one of the most-watched leagues in world football.

Niall McPartland, the head of commercial at QuinnBet, said: “It is a huge privilege for us to commence this two-year partnership with the club. We intend to utilise the partnership to promote our brand in conjunction with Safer Gambling, which is integral to our business and which Cardiff City FC is fully supportive of.”

Championship clubs as a rule have been more conservative than the Premier League in signing front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship deals. More than half of all EPL sides will be bearing the logos of betting firms this season – posing numerous questions as to how responsible that is, with millions of children and vulnerable adults to be exposed to their branding.

In the Championship, only six of the 24 clubs will have a gambling firm on the front of their shirts: Burnley (96.com), Middlesbrough (Unibet), QPR (CopyBet), Stoke City (Bet365), Sunderland (Spreadex) and Watford (MrQ).

Sunderland, meanwhile, are selling two versions of their shirt – one with the Spreadex branding, one without – to appease fans who don’t want to promote gambling via their replica jerseys.

Kicking It Into Touch

In line with many other sports in the UK, the Rugby Football League (RFL) – which governs the sport of rugby league – has published its own code of conduct relating to gambling sponsorships.

For the first time in its history, the RFL has released a series of guidelines detailing how rugby league clubs can partner with gambling firms.

Although they have stopped short of banning their constituent clubs from having betting operators as sponsors, they have identified four key areas that any such partnership must adhere to.

Any agreement must ensure that children and young people are protected, and that the reach of content is restricted to over 18s where possible, while all sponsorship activity must be carried out in a socially responsible way.

Gambling sponsorships must ‘not compromise the integrity’ of any rugby competition, as per the code of conduct, while any commercial revenue gained from any such deal ‘must be reinvested back into infrastructure and programmes that serve fans and communities’.

The RFL’s director of operations & legal, Robert Hicks, commented: “These new measures are good for sport, the gambling industry and fans.

“Rugby League and our long-standing partner Betfred have worked closely for a number of years to ensure that any sponsorship funds are reinvested back into the sport at all levels.”