Study finds 10/20 Premier League clubs are breaking EPL betting rules

After agreeing to new rules for gambling advertisements last season, half of all Premier League clubs are violating the rules. According to a new study from independent watchdog The Pitch Inspection, 10/20 EPL clubs have advertisements for betting sites pages intended for minors and other “junior” fans.
 
The report has been met with outrage from anti-gambling advocates in the UK. A number of clubs have made efforts to address their rule violations after being contacted by the watchdog.

New betting rules explained

In 2023, the Premier League agreed to a new voluntary framework for gambling advertisements after a review of UK gambling regulations highlighted EPL betting ads as a potential problem.
 
The clubs agreed to ban front-of-shirt betting sponsors after the 2025/26 season. The new voluntary framework also created guidelines for soccer betting advertising on pages designed for fans who are under the age of 18.
 
According to the new rules, clubs must ensure that: “no gambling sponsor logos or other promotional materials relating to gambling sponsorship as part of Gambling Related Agreements are included on any materials or section of the website which have been designed to be viewed or used specifically by Children.”
 
In addition to the front-of-shirt sponsor ban, this rule was lauded as a landmark achievement for responsible gambling efforts. However, the The Pitch Inspection study has revealed that 50% of EPL clubs are not following these new rules.

Liverpool, Chelsea, and others break EPL betting rules

The bombshell study found that Brentford, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Aston Villa, Ipswich Town, Chelsea, Leicester City, Liverpool, Newcastle United, and Nottingham Forest included betting ads on a number of “junior” pages available on their club websites.
 
These pages include youth team pages, academy profiles, U18 player spotlights, and young fan forum platforms.
 
In some cases, like with Brentford, the junior pages simply contained the image of a betting site logo. Others contained a clickable image that a minor could theoretically click to go straight to a sports betting site. Everton and Wolves had these kinds of pages.
 
Other clubs committed more egregious violations. Newcastle’s U18 pages featured links to three sportsbooks–Sportsbet.io, Bet MGM and Fun88. Aston Villa published a picture of a U18 squad member  wearing the logo of its sponsor, Betano.

Previous violations

This was not the first time Premier League clubs have gotten in trouble with gambling ads on pages intended for minors.

In 2022, West Ham sponsor Betway was hit with a £400,000 ($778,000) fine after its logo was featured on a page of the Hammers’ website where young fans were invited to cuddle a teddy bear.
 
Also in 2022, Everton asked Stake.com to address the way it advertised its crypto betting platform alongside Everton’s logo.
 
Conclusion

Aston Villa, Brentford, Chelsea, Everton, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Liverpool, and Wolves removed the links to betting sites from their junior pages after they were alerted to the potential rule violations. Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest’s youth websites still featured gambling ads as of late on Thursday.