SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Serving GVC Holdings’ group-wide ‘Changing for the Bettor’ social responsibility mandate, Ladbrokes informs that it will not renew its legacy title sponsorship of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).
The bookmaker, who has served as SPFL sponsor since the 2015/16 season, had previously chosen to donate its £2 million per season sponsorship to industry charity GambleAware, promoting its ‘Bet Regret’ campaign.
Issuing a media update, Mark Chambers, Managing Director of Ladbrokes Retail, confirmed that the bookmaker would not be renewing its sponsorship of the SPFL following the end of this season.
“We have enjoyed a very positive relationship with the SPFL and all the clubs involved and would like to thank them for their support and hard work in making this sponsorship such a success over the last few years,” Chambers detailed.
Fulfilling a key directive of the ‘Changing for the Bettor’ campaign, GVC Holdings has instructed its UK betting brands to donate all football sponsorships to charities, which has seen betting exchange Betdaq donate its shirt sponsorship of Sunderland AFC and Charlton Athletic to Children with Cancer UK.
SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster thanked Ladbrokes for their contribution to Scottish football, adding that the league had begun its search for the bookmaker’s replacement and that it was confident of securing significant interest.
“We’re proud of the tremendous partnership we’ve enjoyed since 2015,” said Doncaster. “Given the growth of Scottish football over the past four years, we’re in great shape to attract significant interest from new sponsors, both nationally and internationally.
“We’ll no doubt have strong interest from potential title sponsors in light of the unrivalled level of nationwide coverage, passion and drama that the SPFL consistently delivers.”
