Philip McGuigan: Sinn Fein MLA who lost £100k gambling hits out at Irish League clubs’ betting sponsorships

An MLA in recovery for addiction after losing £100,000 playing online poker has said gambling advertising in sport should be treated in the same way as tobacco ads are – and banned.

It comes after seven English Premier League clubs – Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Burnley, Everton, Fulham and West Ham – were criticised for continuing to use gambling companies as their main shirt sponsor, with two further teams, Crystal Palace and Wolves, including logos on their shirt sleeves.

An agreement by Premier League clubs to withdraw gambling sponsorship from jerseys will come into effect from the 2026/27 season.

Here, Irish League sides Glentoran, Cliftonville and Crusaders will also have a betting company emblazoned on their shirts for the upcoming campaign.

Sinn Fein MLA Philip McGuigan, who lost more than £100,000 after becoming addicted to online poker over an eight-year period, said sport’s connection with gambling firms was impacting the enjoyment of watching it.

He told this newspaper: "I am mad about sport. The majority of my leisure time, TV viewing, is based around sport or sporting activities, and all of those are being bombarded.

"Gambling companies make huge profits made from the losses of sports fans. We are saturated by wall-to-wall gambling advertising on TV and sports events.

"It literally takes the enjoyment out of watching sport when you are continually being bombarded by gambling adverts and it’s particularly dangerous for younger people.

"If they see advertising for gambling as normalised, their heroes wearing shirts promoting gambling, or adverts telling them it’s harmless fun, then that’s what they’ll think and they’ll believe."

Mr McGuigan said gambling companies that market betting as “harmless fun” is not an accurate reflection on the effect the activity can have.

"This advertising, along with in-play betting and sophisticated gambling products, are all designed purely to ensure profits continue to grow,” he added.

"Gambling products and sports betting are causing incredible harm to a growing proportion of the population. This is particularly the case among young people who are being relentlessly encouraged to gamble.

"Therefore, I am bitterly disappointed that local soccer clubs continue to promote and advertise gambling.

"Advertising is designed to encourage people to gamble, so the inverse of that is that if people aren’t being bombarded with advertising, they will gamble less.

"It’s particularly true for those people for whom gambling provides harm. [As] someone with personal experience of a gambling addiction, being continually bombarded by gambling advertising, emails, it’s a very difficult thing to recover from.

"Similar action is needed to the ban on tobacco advertising, and we need government legislation to end harmful gambling advertising.”

The betting sponsorship on Premier League jerseys was this week criticised by the Christian Action Research and Education, with the charity saying it was “hugely disappointing” to see the practice continuing.

“Problem gambling is a huge concern and research shows people who bet on sports are particularly vulnerable,” said chief executive Ross Hendry.

“Many clubs in the Premier League have moved away from partnerships with big betting in recent years.

“They promote an industry that depends entirely on customer loss for its success, with a track record of putting profits before people.”

The IFA, NIFL, Cliftonville, Glentoran and Crusaders have been approached for comment.