ASTON VILLA have inked a controversial sponsorship deal with a betting company criticised for sexualised adverts.
The Midlands club has reportedly penned a three-year deal with online casino BK8 – who are expected to be their main shirt sponsor next season.
Aston Villa have inked a three-year deal with betting firm BK8
But their deal with the Malaysian online casino has been slammed
BK8’s series of sexually suggestive adverts promoted Norwich City to cut ties with them
But they’re already facing backlash over BK8’s advertising history.
The bookie drew the ire of Norwich City fans in the summer of 2021 when they sponsored the Championship club with a series of sexually explicit adverts which were likened to “soft porn”.
Norwich parted company with the Malaysian betting firm after fans complained about their marketing on YouTube, which, it was claimed, featured “simulated sex acts with a sausage.”
Before severing their ties with BK8, Norwich insisted the ads didn’t “align with the wider vision and values” of the club.
Villa have yet to offer any comment on their reported partnership with BK8, who have also recently teamed up with Crystal Palace, Burnley and Huddersfield.
The reported deal comes ahead of the Government’s plans to publish it’s white paper on gambling reform – which is due to come out next month.
Prem chiefs have faced intense scrutiny in recent years over betting sponsors on shirts.
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling Related Harm slammed Villa for their sponsorship with BK8, telling the Daily Telegraph it’s “incredibly poor judgement.”
Former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “This is a very ill-judged move – particularly in the current content of clubs increasingly rejecting ties with gambling companies given the scale of harm they cause.”
That sentiment was echoed by the Big Step – another campaign against gambling sponsorship.
Founder James Grimes said: “This is a tone-deaf partnership in the face of inevitable government action on gambling ads and against a backdrop of mounting fan pressure.
“Which caused the same online casino to be booted out of a club as recently as 2021.
“It is increasingly clear that desperate clubs can not be trusted on this issue – they continue to partner with gambling companies while lives are at stake.
“The Government must now take responsibility of this farcical situation and end gambling sponsorship in football in the imminent white paper.”
Aston Villa will be back in action on Friday night, welcoming Leeds United to Elland Road.
SunSport have reached out to Aston Villa for comment.
