QPR drop Football Index as shirt sponsor

By

QPR have removed Football Index as its main front-of-shirt sponsor after the online betting operator entered administration on Thursday night.

Football Index’s decision comes after the Gambling Commission suspended the company’s licence following a market crash last weekend with traders told they would not be able to withdraw their funds.

Launched in 2015, the concept behind Football Index is to mirror the stock market allowing traders to buy shares in footballers and receive dividends based on how the footballers perform, while the share price can also rise and fall.

Trouble began to brew for Football Index last Friday when it announced the decision to reduce dividends in an attempt to try and preserve its long-term sustainability.

Subsequently the share prices of players plummeted with some traders having claimed to have lost their life savings as a result.

In a company statement late on Thursday night, Football Index said the decision to suspend the platform had been made after consultation with “external legal and financial advisors, and the UK and Jersey Gambling Commissions”.

“The dividend restructure announced on Friday was a necessary step in a business recovery plan to seek the long-term sustainability of the platform. However, it is clear that this has not been well received and we need to find a more agreeable way forward,” the statement read.

“We are pursuing a restructuring arrangement to be agreed with our stakeholders including, most importantly, our community.”

Rangers signed a one-year deal with the company, who also sponsor Nottingham Forest, to display its name on the home and away kits for the 2020/21 season and included an extension option for a further year.

“As a football club we entered into a one-year agreement with Football Index in good faith,” said chief executive Lee Hoos.

“In light of recent events, the front property of QPR’s home and away strips will no longer sport the Football Index logo.”

It is not the first time QPR have endured difficulties with a commercial partner in recent years.

In 2017, the club was also forced to end a 10-year deal with Canadian kit manufacturers DryWorld after just eight months over an alleged breach of contract, relating both to unpaid money and a failure to produce merchandise on time.

Rangers announced late on Friday that shirts will carry the name of building company Senate Bespoke for the remainder of the season.