Football Teams Rally Under ‘Save Our Shirt’ Banner

The UK is in an interesting time its development as a pro-gambling country. It has strict regulation governing advertising, clarity of offering and requires gambling companies to provide the funding needed to assist those with compulsive disorders to avoid or recover from the temptation offered by gambling – both on and offline.

✓Playing By The Rules

An area of concern more recently has been the children, yes adults make adult decisions however there is a question about whether children raised in gambling-friendly cultures have a higher propensity to gamble.

With all the effort and energy, the UK Gambling Commission puts into staving off the influence of gambling advertising on their youth there are always outliers. Gambling mechanics like Loot Boxes in video games such as FIFA have been put under the microscope for this reason. While they skirted outright banning by the UKGC on a technicality the commission has put providers like EA Games on notice that they are “deeply concerned” which cannot bode well for the future of the practice in the UK.

Another was the recent launch of the in-game Dream Casino and Resort, in the popular online video game Grand Theft Auto Online, which has already been banned in 50 countries. Again, a non-gambling entity is seen to be promoting gambling to the youth.

✓Save Our Shirt Campaign

A prevalent avenue of outreach by betting providers in the UK is sponsoring football teams. This financial investment has most glaringly been repaid with loud advertising on the team’s home and way game kit – which is seen by all ages every time they watch their favourite team take the field.

When Huddersfield Town FC launched their latest kit the public thought, they’d lost their minds with the Paddy Power logo literally filling the entire jersey. A move which sparked outrage… just as it was intended to. After all, it was just a prank. One designed to draw attention to the Save Our Shirt campaign.

✓The Snowball Grows

The Save Our Shirt campaign is aimed at drawing attention to the fact that sponsors get too much airtime. It shows that teams have traded a duty of care for their fans for cash. The campaign offers a solution – keep the revenue while giving the team colours back to the fans without the eyesore of gambling advertising.

While the Save Our Shirt campaign began with Huddersfield Town it has been gaining ground with other teams who feel free to share their concerns over the trade-off now that they can be assured the team can continue to exist financially.

The football teams who are currently part of this “unsponsoring” revolution include: