Kieran Maguire makes West Ham ‘doomsday’ claim after confirmed hammer blow
The ban on gambling front-of-shirt sponsors will not bring ‘doomsday’ to West Ham despite their current deal being worth £60million.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the loopholes around the Premier League’s decision to remove gambling sponsorships.
The Premier League released a statement on Thursday (13 April) revealing that Premier League clubs had collectively voted to remove front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships.
The change will not come into place until the end of the 2025/26 season to aid teams with their transition away from such sponsors.
West Ham’s current deal with Betway is worth £60million across its six-year span, but the Hammers will now have to turn elsewhere for sponsorship opportunities.
However, Maguire believes the Irons won’t be impacted too much as shirt sleeve sponsor value will increase and crypto sponsorships could also rise following the ban.
“The decision doesn’t take effect until the 2026/27 season and clubs will strike deals with gambling companies in the intervening period of time,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“We will see an increase in market values of shirt sleeve deals and clubs will still be able to have gambling partners which will be in view during player and manager interviews.
“The doomsday scenario being painted by some is overplayed.
“West Ham have one of the most lucrative sponsorship deals in the Premier League with a gambling company and their situation is unusual in the sense that their sponsor is a UK-based gambling company.
“The impact on UK problem gambling from this change will be zero, and that ultimately is what is trying to be addressed.
“There is a high chance that crypto sponsorships will fill the void left by gambling companies, and crypto is essentially gambling with a small ‘g’.“
In other news, West Ham have agreed near-£2m fee for Arthur Masuaku