I'm not really sure what to say.. https://www.itfc.co.uk/news/2018/january/new-shirt-sponsorship/ As a fanbase we've been calling out for a new shirt sponsor for years, but honestly I think I miss the Marcus Evans logo already..
I can't be too critical as the last Town shirt I owned was sponsored by a brewery,but it doesn't exactly make you proud to put on the shirt!
My instant thought was that ME may well be removing as many associations with the club as he's about to sell it.. Then I realised it's probably just wishful thinking and it's likely that he's cutting down on his expenditure and he will now fork out less money on the club each year.
I am shocked and dismayed by this sponsorship. Stride Gaming is nothing short of naked Online gambling, which causes misery, poverty and family break-ups the world over. We all love the occasional flutter, but this addiction has become a serious national health concern. I am sorry that my beloved club, our beloved club has stooped so low. I have just helped and supported a family male with 2 toddlers, to emerge from a horrendous £30k debt, and avoided his missus walking out on him. Not happy.
I'm with you 100% gaffer. As a recovering gambler myself, i find it extremely shocking that, not just our club, but our national sport in general has been taken over by gambling firms. I don't know the full numbers, but i would guess a good 50% of top clubs shirts are now sponsored by betting firms (and probably every single club in the top four divisions have betting shops scattered and gambling firms sponsoring some part of the ground). I appreciate that the club needs to attract revenue, but at the health to so many youngsters (and adults) is appalling. I see and speak to many people week in week out who have an addiction/disease/illness to gambling, and it invariably always starts with football bets. With the introductions of online gambling, and with all the apps these days, it is so easy to gamble and fall into the destruction of betting. I also appreciate that not every gambler has a problem, but the more sponsorship is out there, the more adverts you see before, during and after games, the more you will attract people. What i don't like, is that football (and poker) gambling has now been portrayed as fun and exciting to youngsters - and a lot of these will fall into the trap (and some WILL commit suicide). So many football fans these days HAVE to (and i quote Ray Winstone) "Get on it". I have no issue with people having a flutter - but as i said at the start, it has totally taken over our sport, and that is what i detest.
Excellent post Stretchy, and brave too. I shall be writing a letter to the Club, copied to the EADT and editor. You have summed up the misery. Purely as an incidental, where will that £2m go? Dont believe for one minute it will be to bring about improvement in club or players performance, perhaps the odd joker replacement in the next window! Sadly, I am now nearly driven to throw the towell in on ITFC. Where have we fallen to, what a sorry state we are in? Cue, a thundering 9pt run, starting with a stunning win at home v Leeds and we climb up the table. Suffolk Porkies (very tasty!) might fly! We have all shown that there is so much more to life than football, tho we do feel passionate about that, but not any cost! And best of luck Stretchy, you will do it.
Thanks Gaffer - and i'm doing fine thanks - 8 years "clean" now, and have been in and out of the programme for 15 years or so now
I perhaps have not had quite the same initial emotional reaction as Stretchy and Gaffer, as I think it's been pointed out it has become the norm within football sponsorship that we are desensitised to the potential damage that this may cause.. After all, when we had Greene King we didn't all become raging alcoholics and this won't make me want to gamble any more or any less than I currently do. That said, as a (supposed) family club we will be selling replica shirts to Children that are not allowed to show the sponsors logo! that in itself is an alarming thought as parents will have to explain why the words 'Magical Vegas' are not on their shirt they got for Christmas etc. and why these kids can't wear the same shirt as the players! Also, the likelyhood is gambling firms will be banned from shirt sponsorship in the next couple of years (much like alcohol & tobacco) so the timing seems a little odd as well as we may not get to end of the agreement before there is some government intervention.
The difference with having Greene King sponsoring us back in the day, was that drinking was glorified and plastered absolutely everywhere. As i said, every club will have a betting office in the ground, every club will have some part of the ground sponsored by these gambling firms. All sports apps have betting pop ups, every live game has betting odds flashed before and during the game. even TWTD have the latest odds on our next game on their front page. You are right in saying that eventually gambling sponsorship will be banned, but by then you will have attracted thousands upon thousands of vulnerable people.
I genuinely thought that was a fake news story and you were winding us up, Scowey! What a shame, awful sponsorship. As others have pointed out, we're not the most ethical of football clubs considering we've recently been sponsored by a brewery and a tax-avoiding arms manufacturer, but this seems like a new low. I've always laughed at the idea of a gambling firm on a club shirt, so it's gutting to see us jumping on that awful bandwagon. A further disappointment about this sponsorship is the logo. It looks awful. Crass, camp, cheery, cheap, and childish. I haven't bought a replica shirt since the Powergen days, and this latest offering is certainly not going to change anything. Very disappointed in the club right now.
Good luck Stretchy you're an example to others who fall into the hell of addiction, I too am appalled at the way gambling is portrayed as exciting fun on the TV and if you're not involved you're missing out. As for the Club the only positive that might come from this as Scowey suggested is that Evans might be guilding the Lilly for some prospective buyers, lets hope so.
Yep, not impressed at all, cheap ugly logo if ever I saw one, not to mention the gambling aspect. I’d be interested to know if anyone sends their shirt back to get this printed on it.
Very interesting views on here and I hope I don't come across as too glib when I say I really couldn't give a toss what's on the shirts I'm more interested in what's under them
I'm pleased we are finally looking at other avenues for revenue because I've been going on about the shirt sponsor and electronic advertising boards for ages. I'm personally not too bothered about it being a betting company (just as I wasn't bothered when tobacco companies sponsored Formula 1 etc) but I don't bet and have never been affected by the issues that come with addiction. I can understand other people being offended though.
The most offensive thing about the sponsor is the tacky looking logo. Looks like it was done on Word Art.
I get what people are saying and I am sure we could have taken another route, but playing devil's advocate, I am sure all the youngsters who supported ITFC in the 'Greene King' days didn't turn into raging alcoholics as much as anyone who supported Liverpool in their 'Standard Chartered' era didn't rush out and become insurance salespeople or merchant bankers. I think people maybe overthinking this issue just a bit. JMO.
