May 1 – The timing could perhaps have been better with Joey Barton having just received an 18-month ban for betting on football matches, but the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is poised to announce an extension of its naming rights sponsorship with bookmaker Ladbrokes.
Ladbrokes have the naming rights to all four professional divisions in Scotland in a £4million two-year deal that expires at the end of this season.
The betting firm is reported to have agreed to extend for a further year with the option to extend for a further year. The sum is believed to be more than the current deal though no exact figure has been released.
Ladbrokes had picked up the sponsorship in 2015 after the SPFL had been without a naming rights sponsor since 2013 and the end of it Clydesdale Bank partnership.
The issues surrounding gaming and sports book betting sponsorship have been heightened by the Barton case.
Barton who played a season in Scotland for Rangers was punished for 35 breaches of the FA rule prohibiting footballers from betting on the outcome of matches.
Barton made 42 bets on 20 games which involved his own team, from a total of 1,620. Of those 42 bets, 15 were on his team to lose. Of the 20 matches he did bet on Barton played in only two.
Opinion has been divided over whether Barton should have been given such a long suspension that will likely end his career. While Barton did bet on games he clearly wasn’t involved in any form of match-fixing or match manipulation.
Betting sponsorship of football in England has come under increased scrutiny following the Barton case. The game is eager to take the money its sponsors brings, but is quick to punish its players for an activity that it deems illegal under its rules, but which it aggressively promotes across it media.
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