Real Sociedad to reject gambling partners

Real Sociedad will turn down offers of sponsorships from gambling companies in the future, following a vote by the Spanish LaLiga football club’s members.

A total of 6,638 members were polled over three days, with 86 per cent of the respondents supporting a blackout on betting and gaming corporations.

13 per cent of respondents voted to accept such deals, while one per cent returned blank forms.

Sociedad will be the only club in LaLiga not to have a commercial tie-up with a gambling provider.

The vote was held after the club rejected an offer from sports-betting provider Betway last summer. The proposed sponsorship deal was worth more than €3m ($3.4m) per year, according to the Palco23 news website.

The club’s current commercial partners are sportswear provider Macron, soft drinks producer Coca-Cola, beer brand Keler and savings bank Kutxabank.