Football is among the most popular and watched sports in the world. Brands have long understood the value of having their name on a popular team’s jersey, as German liqueur brand Jägermeister first showed in 1973.

Kit sponsorship is now incredibly popular, and a multi-lingual infographic by Top Betting Sites shows exactly how much of the pie different sectors are getting. Gambling is incredibly well-represented, sponsoring 50%, or 10, of the teams in the English Premier League. But this is not going to be the case for too much longer.

EPL Teams Pull Gambling Sponsorship

The infographic is for the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 seasons, and gambling’s role in the EPL will look very different soon. Following criticism for accepting sportsbook sponsorship while punishing athletes for betting violations, the Football Association has decided to end such partnerships as the current one that they have with Ladbrokes. The FA further announced that it would cease all commercial agreements with gambling companies.

The agreement was reached amicably, with the FA expressing thanks for Ladbrokes’ professionalism and the betting firm saying they understood. Consultation over any suspected betting irregularities will continue, but the advertising agreements between the parties finishes with the 2016/2017 season.

Sponsorship Heavyweights  

The infographic covers the sponsorship that the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga get, and highlights the differences in the levels and types of sponsorship that they each receive. Interestingly, although gambling was widely represented across the board, sponsoring 12/58 clubs, its presence was felt much less in Germany and Spain than in England. Sportsbetting has always played a big role in British life, so it makes sense that this industry held a lot of weight in popular sport sponsorship. In the same way, the important Spanish and German industries of cuisine and tourism, and in the case of Germany technological brands too, are the main sponsor names seen on jerseys.

The Premier League’s global impact is seen in the fact that 75% of its sponsorship comes from brands originating outside the UK. On the other hand, the fact that just 16% of Bundesliga investment is foreign shows how much economic potential Germany has. Spain, with 60% of investments in La Liga coming from overseas, falls somewhere in the middle.

The other crucial issue that the Top Betting Sites infographic highlights is how much more money the Premier League receives, in comparison to the Bundesliga and La Liga. While the leagues combined received €546.77 million in sponsorship for the 2016/2017 season, English teams got €260 million. This is 225% more than La Liga got (€115.27 million) and 151% more than the Bundesliga got (€171.3 million).

It’s important to note, however, that the growth in sponsorship for the Spanish and German leagues was 16.6% and 3.97% respectively, whereas for the Premier League it was just 0.92%. The continental countries are catching up to Britain, and Spain seems to be recovering from the economic crisis.