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Everton could be dealt a blow of between a £5-10m loss annually with the Premier League set to agree new rules to ban gambling advertisements on the front of shirts.
There are currently eight Premier League sides with a gambling firm on the front of their shirts, including the Toffees with Stake.com.
But according to a report by The Times (29 March), the league are now set to agree a voluntary ban on gambling firms with a three-year window to implement it to honour existing agreements and that could impact clubs by up to £10m annually.
The decision will be on the agenda in a Premier League meeting on Thursday (30 March) and while a vote could be delayed until the summer, it’s believed to be welcomed by enough clubs that a rule change will occur.
Another blow
Financially Everton are in big trouble and it’s no coincidence that a lot of football clubs have gambling firms sponsoring them because they pay huge sums.
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Obviously the gambling industry is huge and allows them to spend a lot of money on advertisement, knowing that football is a primary market for their customers.
But with the financial problems we’re currently dealing with at Goodison Park, another hole of up to £10m in income is just more headache added to how we’re planning for the future.
Our Premier League status is far from assured year to year now as it had been in the past, and that will make it more difficult to secure the lucrative deals that we see other teams land with companies that aren’t in the gambling world.
It’s another blow and yet another spanner in the works, but ultimately it is a good decision from the rulemakers for the good of the game. It’s just a shame that it comes at the expense of Everton.