Paddy Power Join with Premier League Giants in Anti-Homophobia Drive

Paddy Power have hit the gaming headlines yet again, though thankfully this time it’s for a good reason.

The perennial bad boys of the betting scene have made a name for themselves with various stunts which have incurred the ire of such disparate folks as the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (due to complaints around advertising on betting on the Oscar Pistorius murder trial in South Africa), Pele, and the cycling world as well.

Paddy Power have also  suffered further setbacks in recent months with the revelations that as many as 650,000 customers details had been stolen by cyber-thieves back in 2010, not to mention seeing profits taking a hammering, particularly during the recent football world cup.

Now though it seems they’ve hitched their wagon to a worthy cause.

The Irish bookies, who are arch rivals of the UK’s senior high street gaming outlet William Hill, have joined forces with Arsenal FC and the Gay Football Supporters Network in an anti-homophobia campaign in the English Premier League.

Arsenal, for many years the nearly-men of the Premier League, finally got some silverware to take home by winning the FA Cup in May this year, ending a 9 year drought with no honors to speak of.

It seems strange to record that stat, however, as the team is seldom out of the news as regards signing top players, with one of the most recent being Chilean international Alexis Sanchez to add to the already impressive roster of World Cup winning Germans Mezut Özil and Lukas Podolski, French international Olivier Giroud and a string of current and former England players including Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott.

But nevertheless that is the case.

There have been multiple anti-racism drives in the Premier League down the years, and rightly so, but this is one of the first, if not the first moves to highlight awareness of, and discourage, homophobia.

Arsenal and other teams’ players will wear rainbow colored laces in their boots, and some Arsenal stars appear in a ‘Change the Game’ video in which they explain various traits about themselves which they are unable to change.

So it seems Paddy Power are down but definitely not out – they have a pretty good package for new players too, 100% welcome bonus up to €200 as well as 5 Free money, and lots more promos besides!

Incidentally, Paddy Power are continuing to ring the changes at the top as well – CEO Patrick Kennedy is due to quit at the end of 2014, with Andy McCue announced as his successor.

We hope the new regime doesn’t lead to a diminishing of Paddy Power’s public spiritedness as well as their great gaming opportunities.

Sign up for €200 with Paddy Power