By Kieran Maguire

23rd Apr, 2023 | 7:00am

Kieran Maguire issues 'huge' Sunderland claim with major deal in jeopardy

It would take a ‘huge’ change in opinion from Sunderland owners to see a front-of-shirt gambling ban in the EFL.

That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the chances of a gambling sponsorship ban in the lower tiers of English football.

The Premier League released a statement on Thursday (13 April) revealing that top-flight clubs had collectively voted to ban gambling sponsorships on the front of football shirts.

The ban will come into effect in 2026, allowing clubs time to make the appropriate changes to their sponsorship deals.

Sunderland are currently in the Championship and are one of many EFL clubs that have a partnership with a betting company, with the Black Cats partnered with Spreadex.

The UK-based betting company signed a three-year deal with the North East club in 2022.

Maguire believes a gambling ban in the EFL is ‘unlikely’, with many teams more reliant on their commercial income in the lower tiers.

“A front-of-shirt ban in the EFL is unlikely, the Premier League ban is not set to be introduced until 2026,” Maguire told Football Insider.

“Due to the extra reliance upon commercial income in the EFL due to the much smaller TV deal, it’s unlikely that clubs will voluntarily withdraw from the gambling market.

“As far as Sunderland are concerned, unless there is a huge change in opinion among club owners, it’s unlikely that they’ll see a ban introduced.

“The vast majority of owners are often subsidizing their clubs to very high levels – I don’t expect to see them volunteer to give up potential commercial income.“

In other news, Kieran Maguire: Sunderland set for ‘major boost’ amid talks update