Category Archives: Soccer/Football

Premier League Shirt Sponsors Dominated By Betting Companies

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Source: Statista

If you’ve watched a Premier League game on TV in the UK over the last few years you will have undoubtedly been met with such phrases as ‘bet in play now’, ‘latest live odds’ or ‘£50 free bet’ during the half-time break. Gambling has of course always gone hand in hand with sport but the rise and development of modern betting culture in football has been particularly interesting to observe.

Even when the game is running, viewers are exposed to the advertising efforts of gambling firms looking to gain an edge in this fiercely competitive market. In recent years, one avenue exploited more and more has been shirt sponsorship. Behind only perhaps the renaming of a stadium, the centre of a teams jersey is prime advertising real estate. As the infographic below shows, in the current 2016/17 season, exactly half of the teams in the Premier League have a main shirt sponsor from the gambling industry – back in 2013/14, this stood at 15 percent, and in the previous year 25.

This chart shows the share of Premier League teams with a shirt sponsor from the gambling industry:

Infographic: Premier League Shirt Sponsors Dominated By Betting Companies | Statista
You will find more statistics at Statista

England’s (Ex) Head Coach Big Sam In Bad Company

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Source: Statista

It didn’t last long. Sam Allardyce was announced as the new hope for English football on 22 July 2016. After a mere 67 days in charge, encompassing one solitary victory against Slovakia, Big Sam has left his position at the supposed pinnacle of English football.

Many see the England job as a poisoned chalice but on this occasion Sam only has himself to blame. As with Glenn Hoddle before him, it wasn’t his results on the pitch that were his undoing, but rather ‘non-footballing reasons’. Allardyce was recorded by undercover reporters from The Telegraph advising on how to get around a rule on third party ownership of players and negotiating a £400,000 deal to represent a firm looking to profit from Premier League transfers . Both the manager and the FA are said to have agreed that his behaviour was ‘innappropriate and not what is expected of an England manager’.

Big Sam joins an ever-growing group of managers that failed to make the grade for the Three Lions and takes the dubious honour of having reigned for the shortest time. The FA have placed U21 coach Gareth Southgate in temporary charge and will no doubt be scratching their heads looking for their next ‘best man for the job’.

This chart shows the shortest serving England Football managers as of September 2016.

Infographic: Big Sam In Bad Company | Statista
You will find more statistics at Statista