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 game. As the result of a new agreement between the UK’s gambling companies though, this kind of advertising is now due to be banned.

While this ‘whistle-to-whistle’ TV ban does address what has become a significant issue in recent years, one avenue which is still being exploited by gambling companies is that of 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 no other major European league is this being taken advantage of more than in the Premier League. This season, almost half of all top-flight clubs are sponsored by a company in the gambling industry. This compares to 20 percent in Spain’s La Liga, only 5 percent in Italy’s Serie A and none in Germany or France.

The figures in this chart are based on Statista’s European Football Benchmark. Download it for free, here.