Everton had no choice but to accept the highest bid for a new sponsor due to the state of the club’s finances, according to The Athletic.

The Toffees announced on June 9 a new deal with betting company Stake.com as their new title partner, in what is billed as “the most beneficial shirt-front deal in the 144-year history of the club”.

But the decision to get back in bed with the gaming industry has been criticized, especially at a time when his pervasive presence in football is under intense scrutiny.

BBC Sport reported on May 20 that a ban on such companies being club shirt sponsors was under consideration as the government considered changes to gambling laws.

But according to The Athletic, such a ban is unlikely, and in the context of losing his USM sponsorship when severing ties with Alisher Usmanov over his ties to Vladimir Putin, and after racking up significant financial losses in the together, the club could not afford to turn down the offer.

Gregg O’Keeffe writes: ‘Their links to USM and affiliates were worth around £20million a year, leaving a significant hole in the finances of a club which had already suffered three consecutive annual losses of over £100 million pounds.

“It was imperative to find a solution, however imperfect.

“That’s why Stake.com’s willingness to pay so much – a club that finished 16th last season are now seventh in shirt front earnings – was too good an offer to turn down. Everton didn’t not been inundated with comparable offers from more ethically acceptable companies.

“Publication of a government white paper following a review of gambling law is imminent, but should stop short of banning football clubs from having betting companies as sponsors .

“Even so, with this unpublished white paper and due diligence having been undertaken, Everton have been forced to choose the best offer.”

Uncomfortable Circumstances

It is a sign of a combination of negative factors, some the club’s fault and some beyond their control, that they have been forced to reverse their own ethical stance.

Chief Executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale said two years ago shortly before ending the previous deal with SportPesa [via The Athletic]”In an ideal world, in the future, we would look to have a different type of sponsor on the front of our shirts, as all football clubs would.”

It’s quite likely that some clubs wouldn’t care one way or another, so it’s arguably a positive to see Everton even acknowledging that promoting the game is potentially risky.

But as with so many things, when it comes to profit or, in the case of the Toffees, loss reduction, ethics often go out the window.

The club are far from alone in this, and the attitude permeates society at all levels, but it’s not a good idea to sign a major deal like this when the tide seems to be turning. .

They could not have foreseen Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting fallout, meaning that the relationship with Usmanov was untenable, although some might say such a situation called for trouble.

Nor could they have foreseen the Covid-19 pandemic to which much of the losses over the past two seasons have been attributed.

But the money wasted under Farhad Moshiri, whose close but unclear ties to Usmanov underpinned the previous sponsorship set up, is the fault of the owner and the board.

Moshiri himself cited “significant sums” misspent as a “mistake” in his apology to fans on the club’s website on Wednesday. [8 June].

There may be mitigating circumstances, but even if the club escape the issue of their new deal being banned by law, it’s a decision that sums up the reduced position in which the general chaos of recent years at the club the friends.

In other Everton news, the club are scrambling to retain a young talent whose contract is set to expire imminently.

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