Betting companies keep club's sponsorship coffers full

The emergence of betting companies has saved the English Premier League shirt sponsorship industry from a second consecutive fall in value, according to an industry expert.

Andreas Ullmann, head of market intelligence at sports consultancy Sport+Markt, estimates that the value of shirt sponsorship deals in the Premier League fell from £69.2 million during the 2007-08 season to £68.2 million last season, after years of continuous growth.

He told the Financial Times that the value of shirt deals will increase slightly to £70 million for the 2009-10 season thanks to the emergence of new sponsors from the betting industry.

"Without [betting companies] many clubs would have serious problems," he said. "It has become a bit more of a buyer's market in the UK as we can see from the new deals that some teams have struck with online betting companies."

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