Nottingham Forest has had to remove the logo of its new front-of-shirt partner, Bally’s Corporation, ahead of a game against Real Betis in the UEFA Europa League.

Spanish advertising regulations are very strict around gambling, completely prohibiting any form of sponsorship or marketing of betting companies in football, whether in the domestic leagues or internationally.

As a result, Forest has had to think outside the box for its game at the Estadio de La Cartuja tomorrow night (Wednesday 24 September). The club, in agreement with Bally’s, has donated the front-of-shirt space to the Nottingham Forest Community Trust.

A club statement read: “Nottingham Forest Community Trust plays a vital role across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, using the power of sport, education, and wellbeing to help communities and individuals to thrive, with the aim of ensuring everybody – regardless of background – can reach their full potential.”

Spanish sticking point

Sports marketing has been a tricky task for betting operators in Spain for the past couple of years, with legislation significantly clamping down on advertising practices first passed by the country’s legislature in 2020.

This banned sports sponsorships by betting and gaming firms as well as welcome bonuses and influencer marketing, while TV and radio advertising was restricted to between 1am and 5am.

A Supreme Court ruling in 2024 relaxed these laws somewhat, permitting social media advertising, the use of athletes and celebrities in advertising campaigns, and welcome bonuses – though the latter are now facing renewed political scrutiny and sponsorships as a whole remain banned.

Spanish football clubs have been able to retain a commercial pipeline to the betting sector via international deals. These, which are mainly enjoyed by the biggest clubs in La Liga, focus on regions where Spanish football has a strong following.

Latin America is a particular focal point for these deals, understandable given Spanish is spoken by around 60% of people in this cultural region and major clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona have a strong following.

Similar to the English Premier League, Spanish football has also seen international deals many of which focus on markets in Asia and Africa instead of Spain, leveraging the global reach of some of the league’s biggest clubs, as mentioned above.

These deals will not include front-of-shirt or billboard advertising deals, however, in contrast to the Premier League, instead focusing on regional social media and online advertising campaigns.

A sign of the times for Forest?

Nottingham Forest playing without the Bally’s logo on the front of its team shirts will be an outlier this year, though it could be repeated in other countries like the Netherlands if the club finds itself playing there, having returned to European football for the first time in 30 years.

The club is going to have to get used to this, however. Front-of-shirt betting deals are due to be banned in the Premier League from the 2026/27 season onwards, although sleeve deals and pitchside advertising can continue.

Additionally, if the club was to find itself relegated to the EFL Championship once again it would have free rein to strike betting deals including front-of-shirt ones.

The 2026/27 ban is a voluntary Premier League initiative, but has not been adopted by the English Football League (EFL), while the 2005 Gambling Act review’s only real implication for marketing was a sponsorship Code of Conduct.

Regardless, sponsorships continue to face public and political opposition in the UK and many reform advocates feel that the Gambling Act review did not go far enough, particularly around marketing.