More than half of the Premier League will have a gambling company as their front-of-shirt sponsor for the 2024/25 season.

This is an increase from eight teams to 11 from last season, and with the Premier League reportedly earning £60 million from gambling shirt sponsors in 2022/2023 alone, it seems their rationale for partnering with betting firms is purely on a making money basis.

Although a league-wide ban on gambling sponsors will start from next season, it’s only set to restrict front-of-shirt sponsorship meaning betting companies can still be advertised on shirt sleeves and hoardings. Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leicester, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, West Ham and Wolves will all display gambling sponsors on the front of their shirts when the season kicks off on August 17.

Former players such as Michael Owen, Paul Merson, Peter Shilton and Dietmar Hamann have all spoken openly about their gambling addictions and how much their careers, personal relationships and health suffered as a result. The disastrous effects of gambling addiction should not be taken lightly.

Front-of-shirt sponsorships, crypto partnerships, TV adverts. Gambling in football is omnipresent. Whether you attend a live match or simply visit a club’s website, you’re likely to be confronted with numerous betting company logos and promotions. The normalisation of gambling in football needs to end.

Leagues in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands have all blocked clubs from making front-of-shirt deals with betting companies.

But with the high-profile cases of Ivan Toney, Sandro Tonali and Lucas Paqueta in recent memory, Premier League clubs have chosen greed over protecting their own players, but also their younger, more impressionable audiences.

It’s time for the government and English football as a whole to end gambling advertisements in the sport.