5 days ago
New report shows average gambling turnover is €6.45 million per match in LOI Premier Division
WHEN STEPHEN McGUINNESS and his colleagues at the Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland began their usual club visits ahead of this season they did what they always do: listened to players and people around the dressing room.
As simple as it sounds, actually being open and receptive to the concerns and issues raised from their members and those close to them helped shape some of the strategy now coming into focus.
Whether it was young players emerging into senior squads for the first time, or those experienced PFA Ireland delegates who act as a conduit in dressing rooms, general secretary McGuinness became aware of what continually stood out as the biggest issue: gambling, and awareness of its dangers.
As the season enters its final few months, the focus of PFA Ireland's work will centre around a report it has produced for players.
Some of the most stark aspects of the 'Gambling Awareness' document, seen by The Beat, relate to the betting statistics for the average global turnover per match in the League of Ireland.
In the Women's Premier Division the amount is €260,000.
Each FAI Cup game accounts for €1.64 million.
The First Division is €2.13m.
And way out in front is the Premier Division with an average turnover per match of a staggering €6.45m.
All of this in a top league where the average weekly wage is around €800.
Those incredible figures relating to average betting turnover were supplied to PFA Ireland by Uefa, while the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) is also quoted in the report, detailing how one in 30 adults in Ireland suffers from problem gambling.
Men aged 18-34 'are the most likely to engage in high-risk gambling behaviours' yet the PFA Ireland will also visit women's teams over the next two months as 'recent data suggests women are increasingly affected, particularly through online platforms and mobile apps.'
Even though it became clear to McGuinness and his colleagues that gambling awareness for members is such a core issue, a shift in dressing room culture is now being led by certain clubs.
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There are still recent anecdotal horror stories that highlight the issue and the hold gambling can take, like players checking phones for betting results during warm ups, on the touchline during games and in a particular case even a starting player doing so during a break in play.
But small progress is being made. For instance, in some team WhatsApp groups it has now been made clear by some senior players that there is to be no casual references to betting and odds or tips in other sports.
Players are continually made aware that just like coaches, club staff and match officials, the FAI prohibits them betting on any football match or competition in the world.
Passing on inside information – team selection, injuries etc – to be used for betting is also prohibited. Also referenced in the PFA Ireland report is Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union, that states 'football is the most-targeted sport in international organised crime and match-fixing continues to pose a threat to the integrity of football worldwide'.
Most recent figures for 2023 show 880 football matches were flagged as suspicious, by global monitoring systems.
So it's no surprise that the League of Ireland is not immune to this threat, and only last March it was confirmed that a Garda investigation was under way after a player was offered a bribe to spot-fix during a game.
The player immediately reported the approach – as per FAI rules – and it is an ongoing case. In December former Harps midfielder Ryan Rainey spoke publicly about his own gambling addiction after he was banned for six months for breaching FAI regulations, while former Liverpool trainee Shane O'Connor opened up in April about how his addiction had devastated his life.
All of these dangers remain at a time when the League of Ireland and FAI have attempted to curb the reliance on gambling companies for sponsorship.
The League of Ireland does not rely on a title sponsor from a betting group, and there are no front-of-jersey sponsors among its clubs.
That marks Ireland out as an anomaly. Investigate Europe, a cross-border journalist collective, conducted an analysis earlier this year that found 145 of 442 teams across the continent's top division had a front-of-jersey gambling sponsor, while 296 had at least one betting partner and 14 of 31 leagues had one as title sponsor. Eleven Premier League clubs had front-of-shirt sponsors last seasons and all had a betting partner of some time.
More broadly, the new Gambling Regulation Act 2024 came into effect in this country back in March but has not fully commenced despite being signed into law. Once fully commenced gambling advertising on social media and on-demand media will be banned by default, and it will ban the broadcast of gambling advertising on television and radio between the hours of 5:30am and 9:00pm.
However, as reported by The Journal earlier this year, 'there is no agreed timeline in place to activate new, strict gambling regulations despite a watchdog agency for the industry being established by the government.'
In the meantime, The Beat understands that PFA Ireland and the FAI have held discussions with Flutter Entertainment (parent company of Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Betting & Gaming and others) about funding education programmes on gambling for professionals from Under-17 upwards, similar to schemes in Britain.
The possibility of such a partnership is as much down to resources as anything else, but inviting the gambling industry in, even with the best of intentions, seems counter-intuitive when the League of Ireland has done a good job of not relying on it to thrive.
There are a number of supports available for people to avail of relating to gambling addiction and mental health services.
