The Upcoming – There’s a distinctly cosy relationship between football and gambling – but is it a good thing or a bad thing for the game?
Your view on this will probably depend on whether or not you enjoy a wager. But whether you like it or not, millions of us do enjoy a punt on the football and particularly on the weekly Premier League games. And as other sources of revenue have begun to dry up during these straitened times, gambling sponsorships show no signs of abating.
Of course, if you watch any Premier League games yourself on Sky TV you can’t fail to have noticed this. There’s virtually never an ad break without Ray Winstone coming on screen exhorting us to place a punt on the next goalscorer, number of corners or the correct score, etc. If it isn’t that particular bookmaker, it’s another offering similar “live” deals. And gambling on the outcome of games is very big business indeed. So does it really matter?
