Fulham have unveiled their new first-team sponsor this morning – global betting brand SBOTOP, who will become the club’s front of shirt and principal partner for the forthcoming season.
SBOTOP, described in the club’s statement as ‘a leading online gaming operator,’ replace previous sponsor W88 and will see their logo adorn the men’s first-team shirt and sleeves for the duration of the 2023/24 campaign. The Premier League announced in April that it would delay the banning of betting sponsors on clubs’ shirts until the start of the 2026/27 season.
Fulham also revealed that the club’s new home kit will be launched on Friday and will be worn during their participation in the Premier League Summer Series in the United States next month.
Fulham’s commercial director, Jon-Don Carolis said:
“We are pleased to welcome SBOTOP as our front of shirt partner as we continue our exciting journey in the Premier League. The coveted front of shirt sponsorship plays an integral part in keeping the club competitive through significant revenue, and we look forward to celebrating continued success in 2023/24.”
The chief executive of SBOTOP, Bill Mummery, added:
“We are delighted and excited to bring our two ‘Premier Brands’ together. Jointly, we look forward to increasing both our brands’ awareness on a truly global platform in the coming seasons. I wish Fulham an enjoyable and rewarding trip to the USA.”
Jon-Don? Really?
Why does everyone get so wound up about betting companies lol. Far worse things going on in the world. I guess it’s just something else to moan about for those that do nothing but moan.
and his cousin Billy-Willy
Why does everyone get wound up about betting companies, John? I’m not sure that everyone does because otherwise the Premier League would not have been able to get away with delaying the ban until the start of the 2026/2027 season.
But to answer your central point, more than 10% of people in the UK say they gamble regularly and the latest figures show that more than 250,000 UK residents are addicted to gambling or considered ‘problem gamblers’. In 2019, £14m was lost through better alone, with estimates suggesting that 70% of that was gambled on football. Nine of the Premier League clubs last season were sponsored by betting companies, whilst seventeen of the 20 sides had some reference to gambling on their shirts. Gambling adverts are prevalent throughout coverage of football in the media and normalise gambling to children. The lower leagues in England have for the last eight years been sponsored by a gambling company related to the major domestic broadcaster.
You may say why does this matter – but some of us take the view that we should try and prevent any harm in society and, ultimately the Premier League does now too. Fulham have made much of being a family club over the years, although we see that as a bit of a fallacy now as they have taken the decision to profit from gambling when other clubs have begun to phase this sponsorship out, as well as the inflation-busting increase in ticket prices.
I won’t speak for Dan as he can articulate his thoughts on this subject well but I know it is personal for him since he has to walk past the seat of a supporter who took his own life after being unable to get out of his gambling debts every time he attends a Fulham game. He’s one of the most passionate Fulham fans I’ve ever met and didn’t create this website to moan, so I think that’s a very harsh criticism myself.
Worked for 40years supporting and nursing people with mental health problems- some were caused by the increasing problems of gambling addiction that led people to take their own lives.
Amongst many things we could do the banning of the advertising of the betting industry in our game can’t come quickly enough.
It’s a shame our club can’t follow the lead of others in getting rid of this sponsorship of our team