TRANMERE Rovers chairman Mark Palios has revealed that the club turned down a four-figure sum to promote gambling during their televised Carabao Cup match against Newcastle United this week.

An unnamed gambling company offered the sum in return for multiple pitch-side advertisings boards at Prenton Park.

Palios said: “A televised cup match against a Premier League team is always a big event for our club. It’s an opportunity to engage youngsters and let them see elite level stars – not a platform for promoting gambling.”

Public Health England estimates there are over 400 gambling suicides in England every year. There are up to 1.44m people addicted to gambling in the UK, with millions more at risk and harmed indirectly.

Nowhere is gambling’s pernicious presence felt more than in football, which acts as the ‘hook’ that draws young, first-time gamblers in, who then often get cross-sold highly addictive casino games, with addiction/ at-risk rates of up to 45%, potentially setting them up for a lifetime of addiction. Last year, a Channel 4 documentary found that up to 700 gambling adverts can appear during a single televised Premier League game.

Tranmere Rovers was the first club to sign up to The Big Step – a campaign to end all gambling advertising and sponsorship in football, led by people harmed by gambling and part of the charity Gambling with Lives, representing a community of families bereaved by gambling deaths.  

A Big Step spokesperson said: “This is such a commendable stance that should be applauded by all. During a cost-of-living crisis, the club has reduced ticket prices for this prestigious cup tie and more importantly for us, said no to quick and easy gambling money – that is the definition of a community football club.

“By refusing to promote highly addictive products in front of young fans and their wider fanbase, the owners and the club are putting the health of young fans before profit.

"While the government delays vital gambling reform, it is essential for more football clubs to replicate this stance. Gambling advertising in the sport is not just very unpopular but it is very unhealthy and is contributing towards obscene levels of harm in the UK.”