Wolves' new sponsors: All about the money
I'll get straight into it by saying I don't like the idea of The Money Shop's logo being on a Wolves shirt, writes blogger Graham Large.
Just when we were hoping for some good news to lift our spirits from what has been a terribly disappointing season, we are yet again left pondering the decisions of the higher ups.
In short, the reception from the vast majority of Wolves fans has not been anywhere near positive.
Nevertheless, the deal is done and the outcry is unlikely to deter the men that run the club.
Of course, Wolves are not the first team to be sponsored by a firm that specialise in payday loans. The likes of Newcastle, Blackpool and Heart Of Midlothian have all been sponsored by Wonga and the reactions from their fans was similar to that of the Molineux faithful.
Where some supporters are appalled to see their heroes and the institution they love promote 729 percent APR loans, the club sees profit and the chance to invest in the team or club infrastructure.
No one disputes the need for the club to raise additional capital. The club is still in limbo and no one knows whether there will be significant investment during the next transfer window.
While I have praised the board for reconnecting with the supporter base since the infamous 'double drop', I'm afraid they have got it wrong with this decision.
Wolverhampton is a city with an above average unemployment rate, lower than average wages and a high amount of people struggling to make ends meet. Ideal customers for The Money Shop, some would say.
When I first heard the rumours earlier this week, I went onto The Money Shop's website and obtained a quote an imaginary £500 loan for 30 days. The funds would be in my account within the next 15 minutes – fiercely tempting for families in need of a little extra cash – but this meant me paying back £596.
In other words, The Money Shop would make £96 from loaning me that £500 – an enormous amount of interest for a low income family! All they need is for a couple of these loans to overlap and their situation becomes irreparable.
Let's not forget, this is the very same payday loan lender that were ordered to pay over £15.4 million in compensation to some 150,000 customers last year for providing loans to customers who could not afford the repayments.
You could argue that many football shirt sponsorship deals are rather questionable. After all, betting companies, whiskey brands and casinos have all appeared on shirts in recent years.
Wolves were previously sponsored by bookmaker SportingBet. Did that encourage more betting addictions?
Would an Arsenal supporter refuse to book a flight with British Airways because his club recommends he spends another £2000 to fly with a different airline?
Would an Everton fan be daft enough to solely drink Chang simply because his club claims it is the best lager in the world?
Therefore, it is highly unlikely that Wolves' sponsorship deal with The Money Shop will result in thousands of supporters running up crippling debts through payday loans.
But just how many Wolves fans will want to walk around Molineux carrying the name of a payday loan company?
Supporters are often their own worst enemies when it comes to merchandise, buying kit despite the multitude of ethical issues, including a lack of information as to where shirts are made and in what conditions, and the ever increasing prices.
Yet many fans I have spoken to are refusing to buy Wolves shirts for their children unless the club adapt the same stance as they did with the Sportingbet kit a few years ago, where they dropped the logo from all child-sized shirts. However, there is no way to stop children from seeing The Money Shop's logo on players' chests on TV or in newspapers and magazines.
One thing is for sure, it would be very interesting to see the home shirt sales based on the first week last time we released a home shirt in comparison to the new shirt with The Money Shop's logo.
As of right now, the situation is yet another public relations disaster and there is no one party, namely the fans, the club, and the sponsors, that is likely to come out as the winner.
Graham is the editor of Wolves retro magazine Old Gold Glory. Get three issues of Old Gold Glory for just £6 by visiting http://www.oldgoldglory.co.uk/
