The EFL have announced a new five year deal with Sky Bet – despite the noise surrounding gambling in football. They have introduced a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to combat the safer gambling message to all supporters.
Building on a decade-long partnership, the new rights fee represents a 50% increase from Sky Bet, providing significant revenues for EFL Clubs and support for the League’s overriding objective to make Clubs financially sustainable across all divisions.
The deal will also see Sky Bet invest £1 million per season and £6 million in total into a Community Fund held by the EFL to be invested into communities across England and Wales where EFL Clubs are located. The EFL and Sky Bet will use the funding to deliver activity via the EFL Trust and the network of Club Community Organisations (CCOs), with the initiatives in focus to be mutually agreed by the organisations.
Examples within the MoU include:
- Sky Bet will not actively market themselves or their products in family areas of Club stadiums or advertise to young fans.
- The EFL will dedicate a proportion of its central inventory to promote safer gambling messaging and support Sky Bet’s safer gambling campaigns.
- Sky Bet will fund a player education programme across the EFL’s 72 Clubs that will focus on the potential dangers of gambling and provide support and advice.
