AFC Bournemouth Terminate Shirt Sponsorship as UK Gambling Commission Probes M88

The English Premier League team AFC Bournemouth terminated its deal with its central shirt sponsor M88. This was after the UK Gambling Commission has initiated a probe in the Asia-facing gambling operator.

Bournemouth has been in a partnership deal with M88 since the beginning of the 2017/18 season. Ever since the M88’s logo has been appearing on the front of the English Premier League side shirt. The logo has featured on Bournemouth’s home, away and third kit along with training kit.

However, according to The Athletic. The UK Gambling Commission is investigating in different aspects when it comes to the business model of the Mansion Europe along with Asia-facing M88 with both being owned by online gambling operator Mansion Group.

Plan for the Rest of the Premier League Season

After terminating the deal with M88, Bournemouth informed that they will be wearing a different kit for the rest of the season. The football club and M88 penned a deal that was extended including the 2019-2020 games. This agreement was purportedly worth a club record of £5m ($6.2m) each football season.

However, there are reports that if AFC Bournemouth failed to find a shirt sponsor in a short space of time, it will print a “thank you” message. This is in support of the frontline medical and essential workers who are getting involved during the ongoing global pandemic of the coronavirus.

Even if that’s the case, the football club will not do so without the approval from the Premier League. At the same time, AFC Bournemouth sleeve sponsorship with the parent company will remain active for the rest of the season.

Previous Skirmishes with Gambling Authorities

In April, there were some reports that circulated in the UK that the gambling authorities were probing some VIP scheme of the Mansion brand.

A VIP manager told an account holder that since the platform did not ask customers to verify their sources of funds, they surely have to do it, “have to do it because the UK gambling regulators make us do it.”

In addition, Mansion Group encountered a previous altercation with another regulatory body in 2013. This witnessed the organisation fined €150,000 ($166,747) by the Netherlands Gambling Authority. This was after it gave permission to the Dutch customers to use the platform despite the fact that they did not have the authority to do so.

The Bottom Line

Above all, M88 is facing a massive probe from the authorities and they have to make sure that they clear their name to safeguard their reputation. Nevertheless, they announced they would withdraw support for customers who are in Malaysia and Colombia but there was no specific reason for that decision.

The brand will be paying more attention to Vietnam, Thailand and Chinese markets.

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