Gambling Sponsorship Ban to Impact Dutch Football Clubs
Professional football clubs in the Netherlands are preparing for a substantial financial blow as a ban on gambling advertisements and sponsorships comes into effect on July 1. According to Dutch media reports, 33 out of 34 professional clubs have relied on gambling sponsorships over the past four years.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:Clubs Bracing for €70 Million in Losses
Eredivisie CV, which advocates for the interests of the top-tier clubs, estimates the ban will lead to €40 million in direct losses for the clubs and an additional €30 million in indirect losses due to reduced advertising revenue from media partners.
Gambling sponsorships, which was legalized in 2021, became a lifeline for many clubs during the COVID-19 pandemic and helped them survive the financial difficulties caused by suspended matches. Just one club, Roda JC, rejected gambling sponsorships on moral grounds.
The Dutch Parliament’s lower house, the Tweede Kamer, moved to ban gambling sponsorships just three months after the market opened. While no new deals have been permitted since July 2023, existing agreements must be phased out entirely by July 2025.
The decision came after a huge increase in gambling across the Netherlands. Data from the Kansspelautoriteit, the national gambling regulator, showed that average monthly gambling expenditures nearly doubled in 2023 compared to 2021. Around 500,000 individuals gamble each month, with the average player losing approximately €1,000 over six months.
Additionally, gambling addiction rates have risen sharply. Stichting Informatievoorziening Zorg (IVZ) reported a 24% increase in cases of gambling addiction in 2023, linking the trend to the opening of the market in 2021.
Everyone was warned that things would go wrong with the number of advertisements. This is purely about making money. And the warnings were simply not listened to. I understand that you want to keep the income away from crime. But you have to be very careful with that. And now it immediately got out of hand.
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No Alternatives Presented to Dutch Clubs
The ban has left Dutch football clubs frustrated, as no alternative revenue solutions have been proposed. Bas Raemakers of Eredivisie CV has spoken of his disappointment and explained that efforts had been made to create self-regulation within the sector.
He said that they wanted stricter guidelines brought in such as preventing players and managers from appearing in advertisements, providing extensive education about match-fixing and gambling addiction, and placing significant restrictions on sponsorship deals.
Football economist Thomas Peeters noted that smaller clubs would be the hardest hit by the ban. This is because income distribution in Dutch football already favors major clubs such as Ajax, PSV, and Feyenoord. Smaller clubs, particularly in the second-tier Keuken Kampioen Divisie, were more reliant on gambling sponsorships and as such, the ban will likely widen the financial gap between top-tier and lower-tier clubs.
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