West Ham United agrees controversial new betting sponsorship deal
English Premier League soccer club West Ham United has reportedly signed a new shirt sponsorship deal with BoyleSports.
Now, you may be thinking that this is a fairly regular occurrence, but the story is very notable for two reasons.
Firstly, English clubs will be prohibited from front-of-shirt sponsorship deals with gambling firms from the start of the 2026/27 season, and also, the club has an existing high-profile issue with one of its players and its existing gambling partner.
It appears that West Ham has ended its relationship with Betway because the company was directly involved with alerting the authorities about Lucas Paqueta, who was subsequently charged with deliberately getting booked on the pitch to influence betting markets.
This time next year, the front-of-shirt betting ban will commence, but the logos are likely to be moved to the arm and back of shirts. Yes, they will be much less prominent, but they will still be there.
The club has denied that the end of its relationship with Betway has been impacted by the Paqueta saga, but it seems peculiar that it is ending one agreement with a betting company, to replace it with another, for just 12 months.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Irish brand BoyleSports has penned terms with the East London-based club in a one-year deal said to be worth £12 million ($16.29m).
They were previously a sponsor of Sunderland FC in the Premier League, and now the company will receive a profile lift from the significant global exposure afforded by the Premier League.
Paqueta decision expected from the FA
However, it appears that the club is making the most of a limited window by embracing another gambling firm, just 12 months before the ban takes effect. The move has incensed anti-gambling ad campaigners such as Will Prochaska, director of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads.
He said, “The modern gambling industry has poisoned football, and teams like West Ham have lost their moral compass. It’s a sorry indictment of football authorities that players like Paqueta get read the riot act for gambling offences whilst his club is enabled to promote dangerous gambling products to fans.”
“That the club, despite this background, is replacing one gambling sponsor with another shows that they have not learned anything and are still putting corporate greed above the interest of fans. No doubt this is the last throw of the dice for them given the incoming rules, when we fully expect gambling companies will move their logos onto sleeves and backs of shirts.”
It is a tangled web of a situation and the Betway involvement in the Paqueta controversy is an embarrassing one for the Hammers, but they insist the issues are not related.
As for the Brazil international player Paqueta, he remains in limbo with his career in doubt, as the Football Association (FA) is said to be aiming for a life ban.
Two years on from the outbreak of the saga, the governing body has concluded its investigation but it has not confirmed when the outcome will be announced.
There is a strong possibility that it will emerge before the start of the new season in August, with the player and club desperately seeking clarity, but a lengthy ban is expected.
Image credit: @WestHam/X
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