Critics fear league chiefs’ lucrative trade in stats will help fuel surge in problem gambling

Scottish football bosses made millions of pounds last year selling match statistics to bookies.

The Scottish Professional Football League made up to £3 million by selling game data to betting firms in the last year – an increase of £1.2m.

The fortune being earned by football authorities from the soaring market in live betting on matches has fuelled concern about the influence of betting firms in the sport.

Around £1 in every £5 raised in Scotland’s professional leagues now comes via the betting industry.

The match stats are used by newspapers and also by bookies around the world to capitalise on the burgeoning “live” inplay football betting market where punters can bet on everything from the next goalscorer to how many free-kicks a team will be awarded during a match.

One in four internet gamblers bet inplay, according to a recent report, and there is mounting concern the growing trend encourages problem gamblers to chase their losses. Advertising watchdogs have already clamped down on TV ads – like those for Bet365 featuring actor Ray Winstone – encouraging punters to bet during live coverage of matches. But the bookies’ growing financial investment in football is escalating concern among politicians, fan groups and campaigners.

Paul Goodwin, director of fans’ group the Scottish Football Supporters Association, said: “Our game’s dependency on the betting industry is not healthy. It is now propping it up.

“We are in danger of normalising gambling for a generation of kids who think in-play betting and watching football matches live goes hand in hand.” He said the fans’ group has turned down three offers from the betting industry to sponsor events it holds every year. Mr Goodwin said: “We’ve had several offers from betting companies and they have been for transformational amounts for our small organisation. But it has always been the board’s viewpoint that accepting money from the betting industry goes against the values we have.”

The Betfred Cup is just one of three tournaments in Scottish football now sponsored by betting firms.

The Warrington-based bookmakers extended their sponsorship of the competition two weeks ago.

Scotland’s other national cup competition, run by the Scottish Football Association, is sponsored by William Hill.

– Paul Goodwin, SFSA

Both deals are reportedly worth £1m each year. On top of this, Ladbrokes pay around £2.5m a year to sponsor professional league football in Scotland.

But SPFL’S accounts, published last month, show an extra revenue stream also comes via betting firms.

An estimated £3m of the SPFL’S £37m revenue was made from the “exploitation of match data” last year.

The SPFL, headed up by Neil Doncaster, says a company called Football Dataco sells data on its behalf. It said details of the “confidential” deals wouldn’t be revealed for commercial reasons.

But its accounts note the Football Dataco deal has increased its income by £1.2m in a season.

Analysis of the accounts of Football Dataco – who were formed in 2001 to exclusively sell on the “data rights” of the professional leagues in Scotland and England – show the SPFL’S revenue would have been in excess of £3m last year.

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We are in danger of normalising gambling for a generation of kids who think in-play betting and watching football matches live goes hand in hand