Paddy Power reveals #SaveOurShirt campaign

Paddy Power has just announced its #SaveOurShirt campaign urging fellow betting companies to stop sponsoring football shirts following its controversial ‘sash’ sponsorship announcement.

On July 17th, the betting company revealed its sponsorship of Huddersfield Town FC with the launch of the new 2019/20 football shirt featuring an oversized Paddy Power logo across the front.

The Twitter announcement caused many users wondering whether the kit reveal was a hoax, and the news made it into many local and national papers alongside criticism of the design.

Fortunately for Huddersfield Town fans, the real shirt was revealed today (July 20th) with a very tongue-in-cheek YouTube video. The video highlighted the issues around shirt sponsorship and showed the actual shirt, which doesn’t feature a logo at all.

Watch the #SaveOurShirt video here.

Paddy Power MD, Victor Corcoran, said: “Shirt sponsorship in football has gone too far. We accept that there is a role for sponsors around football, but the shirt should be sacred.

“So today we are calling on other sponsors to join the Save Our Shirt campaign, and give something back to the fans. As a sponsor, we know our place, and it’s not on your shirt.”

Paddy Power has also donated their sponsorship of the club’s training kit to the Huddersfield Town Foundation.

The betting firm worked with Octagon and VCCP Blue on the initial hoax.

Henry Nash, head of strategy at Octagon, said: “In the face of football’s crass commercialisation and relentless exploitation of fans, our ambition was to do something good for the game. There was really only one brand brave enough to pull this off.

“We’re beyond thrilled that Paddy Power has taken a stand with Save Our Shirt. We believe this idea will have a lasting legacy – not just on the brand but on the game itself.”

Recently, GVC launched its Change for the Bettor campaign which called for an end for all football shirt sponsorship deals and TV adverts. 

Many companies voluntarily agreed to stop advertising before 9pm from the 2019/20 season. However, Paddy Power’s campaign has definitely taken it a step further by completely eliminating its logo altogether.