{"id":127218,"date":"2020-02-17T14:32:15","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T22:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=127218"},"modified":"2020-02-17T15:05:13","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T23:05:13","slug":"epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early\/","title":{"rendered":"EPL Team Everton Aborts SportPesa Sponsorship Deal Two Years Early"},"content":{"rendered":"

English Premier League club Everton has cut short its \u00a37 million-per-year ($9 million) jersey sponsorship deal with Sportpesa<\/a> two years before it was due to expire. The club announced Monday it will part ways with the Kenya-based sports betting giant at the end of the current season.<\/p>\n

\"Everton\"
Everton\u2019s Alex Iwobi wearing his team\u2019s Sportpesa-branded jersey. But the team will walk away from the deal at the end of the season. (Image: Forbes)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An Everton spokesperson described the move as a \u201cdifficult decision, but one that allows us to best deliver on our commercial plan and to grasp the new opportunities now open to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everton signed a five-year deal with Sportpesa in 2017. It was the biggest jersey sponsorship agreement in the club\u2019s history. But it exposed the team to criticism at a time when the \u201cgamblification\u201d of soccer was an increasingly controversial issue, as it remains.<\/p>\n

This season<\/a>, exactly 50 percent of EPL teams sport the logos of gambling companies on their chests, leading to concerns about \u201csocial costs\u201d and the exposure of children to gambling branding.<\/p>\n

Controversy Deepens<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The relationship between Everton and Sportpesa became even more contentious after the company\u2019s license was revoked in its native Kenya following an argument with the government<\/a> about taxation.<\/p>\n

Regulators in the East African country have since allowed the company to reapply for a license and the application is pending<\/p>\n

\n

Meanwhile, media in the UK, Kenya, and Bulgaria have raised questions about the company\u2019s ownership, which includes wealthy Kenyans and Bulgarian casino owners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Bulgarian media has accused one major shareholder, Gerasim Nikolov, of leaving his home country for Kenya in 2006 under the cloud of a criminal investigation. Some media outlets report he remains under investigation by Bulgaria\u2019s Agency for National Security (DANS).<\/p>\n

Nikolov and Sportpesa have vociferously denied all these allegations.<\/p>\n

Writing on the Wall<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At the club\u2019s annual general meeting (AGM) last month, Everton chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale said that, \u201cIn an ideal world,\u201d Everton would \u201clike to have a different type of sponsor on the front of our shirts like all football clubs would. But that is a commercial decision that we make as a football club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the writing was on the wall when, at Everton\u2019s last home game against Crystal Palace February 8, the team opted not to wear the Sportpesa logo at all.<\/p>\n

Clubs can promote a good cause rather than their official sponsor for one match per season, although many do not embrace the opportunity. But Everton chose to promote its own community program rather than the Sportpesa brand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club would like to thank SportPesa for all of the work that has been done together,\u201d said the team\u2019s spokesperson Monday. \u201cOur partnership has seen our first team visit Africa on two occasions, as well as former players and club staff take part in numerous activations in the region.<\/p>\n

“This has allowed us to grow our own footprint in Africa and further strengthen our special relationship with the continent,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

English Premier League club Everton has cut short its \u00a37 million-per-year ($9 million) jersey sponsorship deal with Sportpesa two years before it was due to expire. The club announced Monday it will part ways with the Kenya-based sports betting giant at the end of the current season. An Everton spokesperson described the move as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":127219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEPL Team Everton Aborts SportPesa Sponsorhip Deal Two Years Early<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everton will walk away from its controversial \u00a37 million-per-year deal with Sportpesa at the end of this season despite having two years left to run.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EPL Team Everton Aborts SportPesa Sponsorhip Deal Two Years Early\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everton will walk away from its controversial \u00a37 million-per-year deal with Sportpesa at the end of this season despite having two years left to run.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-17T22:32:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-17T23:05:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/iwobi.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"868\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early\/\",\"name\":\"EPL Team Everton Aborts SportPesa Sponsorhip Deal Two Years Early\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/iwobi.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-17T22:32:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-17T23:05:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Everton will walk away from its controversial \u00a37 million-per-year deal with Sportpesa at the end of this season despite having two years left to run.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/epl-team-everton-aborts-sportpesa-sponsorhip-deal-two-years-early\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/iwobi.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/iwobi.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":868,\"caption\":\"Everton\u2019s Alex Iwobi wearing his team\u2019s Sportpesa-branded jersey. 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