Shirt sponsors

I was down in London recently and as I sat having my lunch in a pub it was clear that some of the people there were down for the football. There were a couple of matches taking place in London, and it was probably West Ham who were the relevant team. It was interesting to note the sponsors on the shirts.

Over the years, these have become more linked to gambling firms, moving away from tobacco and other products.

The value of these agreements has also increased over the years. Gone are the days of a local building or scaffolding firm having their names on the shirts of teams in the top leagues. They are also more likely to be multinational companies.

It turned out that the BBC had published a piece just the day before my visit looking at the change in the nature of companies that sponsor football teams.

It will be interesting to see what proportion of teams in next year's Premiership (which will include Leeds of course) have betting companies on their shirts.

They are currently sponsored by Red Bull.