Bookmakers sponsor 16 Second-tier clubs

EI Rayo announced this Thursday that William Hill would become its new official sponsor for this 2020-21, becoming a member of a list that includes Zaragoza, Las Palmas, Fuenlabrada, Oviedo, Albacete, Ponferradina, Mirandés and Alcorcón – they renew their contract – and to which Sporting, Málaga, Logroñés and Sabadell have also joined. However, These 13 Second Club clubs are not the only ones linked to a bookmaker. So are Mallorca (Betfred) and Espanyol and Leganés (Betway), so the total is 16.

It is concluded, therefore, that the 73% of Second Division teams has a bookmaker among its sponsors. A presence slightly higher than Primera, where it reaches 70%. However, not all entities have them as main sponsor, nor do all teams wear advertising on the shirt. There are different formulas and each club has its own agreement. Almería, Castellón, Cartagena, Girona, Lugo and Tenerife are the only Second Division teams that have not been linked to the betting sector, while Eibar, Elche, Getafe, Huesca, Real Sociedad and Valladolid have not done it either.

And it is that, Beyond the ethical debate, right now the future is quite uncertain. The Minister of Consumption, Alberto Garzon, ruled on the suitability of bookmakers sponsoring sports entities during an interview in The sixth: “It's reckless Clubs are signing for two or three years. They are radically wrong. They will have to correct it because the law is the law and we are facing a very important problem, “he said, pending the approval, in October, of the Royal Decree of Commercial Communications of the activities of the game.

The last draft hardened compared to the one presented in February and the exceptions referring to football disappeared. Those that concern more specifically sponsorship were extended to the prohibition of using “the name, brand or trade name of an operator to identify a sports facility.” Neither may “substitute or add to the name of a team or competition the name or trade name of an operator”. And as for advertising in the venues “you must adjust to the time limitations.” Even more forceful is point 4 of article 12, in which it specifies: “Sponsorship in shirts or sports equipment will not be admissible.” So it is paradoxical that the clubs continue to sign agreements that, in just a few days, can be wet paper. Without going any further, Atlético announced theirs with Versus yesterday.

From the other point of view, the business one, it is estimated that these measures will have a strong impact on LaLiga teams, whose losses will be around 80 million euros. In fact, sponsorships are their main source of income behind the money received from televisions. Despite what this will mean, the employers are not afraid of the viability of the clubs, which will have to face a major readjustment. This business, the one corresponding to the betting sector, It contributes 1,900 million euros in taxes to the State coffers and generates almost 50,000 jobs in Spain.