Sky Bet has signed a five-year extension to its headline sponsorship of the English Football League (EFL).
The new deal will run up to the 2023/24 season and will extend the overall sponsorship to a total of at least 11 years.
Sky Bet has not disclosed the overall value of the deal, but has revealed the cost of the sponsorship will increase 20% year-on-year from the 2019/20 season.
The sponsorship will include responsible gambling messages on every club shirt and the announcement of it coincides with Sky Bet unveiling a ‘responsible gambling’ ad campaign.
News of the new deal comes as gambling advertising comes under increasing scrutiny from the UK government. The Australian government has gone as far as to ban TV gambling ads during matches.
Recent research revealed around 95% of ad breaks during live UK football matches feature at least one gambling advert.
Richard Flint, chief executive of Sky Betting & Gaming, said: “We believe the additional focus we and the League are both placing on responsible gambling will show that well run betting operators can play an active part in raising awareness of problem gambling.
“By using our sponsorship and marketing capabilities to highlight how customers can gamble safely we hope to ensure that nothing gets in the way of people’s enjoyment of sport, definitely not betting.“
Alongside the ad campaign, Sky Bet will also highlight its responsible gambling message in all EFL match day programmes this weekend, and on LED boards in grounds across the country.
Sky Betting & Gaming brand and people director Rob Painter added: “Obviously tackling gambling related harm goes beyond raising awareness of responsible gambling tools but we felt it was important that we put our marketing and sponsorship expertise behind our efforts to help our customers gamble safely.“
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