Spain’s Gambling Sponsor Ban Causing Added Pain to Clubs

It was in July of 2020 that plans were announced by the Spanish Minister for Consumer Affairs, Alberto Garzon, to ban gambling sponsorship of the country’s football clubs. The months have been passing by, and with every step closer, Spanish teams are experiencing an increase in financial pressure.

Out of the 42 clubs in the top two divisions of Spain, 30 of them have partnership deals of some kind with gambling companies. Shirt sponsorship deals with betting firms are in place with seven clubs in La Liga, including Valencia, Real Betis and Sevilla. Speaking of the ban, which was fully approved by the coalition government in Spain last November, the president of La Liga, Javier Tebas did not agree. He said that its introduction will cause the country’s football industry €90 million of harm.

It’s contradictory that in a country where gambling is a legal activity, advertising it is prohibited. We believe forbidding it outright is a mistake. Evidently, it’s going to cause lots of damage and while we have appealed to the government, the clubs will have to scrape around in a very difficult moment.

Javier TebasPresident La Liga

Tebas continued on by saying that La Liga has requested that the government take a different approach and utilize an alternative policy. He spoke of the ban reducing Spain’s ability to compete with the rest of Europe.

However, it is not the only country that has taken the decision to ban gambling advertising in some way. Italy opted to ban it in 2019, with the United Kingdom also discussing such a law being introduced as well. And while some agree with the decisions to ban such sponsorship, others have outrightly opposed it.

That being said, Spain’s decision to ban such partnerships at this time – when clubs have been forced to agree to pay cuts with players due to the pandemic – is considered ill-timed. With a lot less income, could what Tebas spoke of become the harsh truth for Spain’s football scene?

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