The European football industry was estimated to earn $497.82m in revenue from betting sponsorships during the 2020/21 season, which was 78% of the betting industry’s overall sponsorship spend within the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

English football was the biggest beneficiary of this due to it attracting the biggest TV audience, earning $143.84m, which was 29% of the overall market spend and more than double that of any other European market. The Premier League saw $103.87m of this, while $39.96m was spent on the English Football League. Spanish football was estimated to earn $70.49m from the betting industry and another $57.35m was spent on German football.

Liam Fox, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Considering the sheer size of the football betting market and its position as the number one sport to bet on internationally, this sport unsurprisingly drives the most value when it comes to betting sponsorships. However, as stricter gambling advertisement regulations across Europe become more widespread, restrictions and possible bans on betting sponsorships have the potential to leave a significant hole in the commercial revenues of European football properties.

“This has already been evident in Italy, where betting sponsorship restrictions, which were implemented after the 2019 Dignity Decree, was esimtated to cost Italian football €100m ($119.3m) in revenue. A blanket ban on betting sponsorship in Spain is due to come into effect from the 2021/22 season, which has the potential to leave a $70.49m hole in revenue for Spanish football properties. Meanwhile, in the UK, a report by a House of Lords Select Committee on gambling has recommended eradication all betting sponsorship from sport by the end of 2023.”