Fan protest over ‘soft porn’ ads forces Norwich City to ditch £5m shirt sponsor BK8

June 14 – Norwich City fans have objected to the club’s new shirt sponsor BK8 forcing the club to drop its £5 million one year deal with the online bookmaker just five days after announcing the record deal.

Fans discovered an Instagram channel promoting services to Malaysian customers that promoted ‘sexy baccarat’ and suggestive images of hot dog swallowing contests.

Under the hashtag #hergametoo, fans complained that the soft porn images were offensive, degrading and against the club’s principles.

The fan campaign prompted Norwich City to announce that it was cancelling the sponsorship with immediate effect, saying that it had “got it wrong”.

“As a club, we’re proud of our place within the local community and our relationship with supporters around the world. We have worked tirelessly for a considerable time building relationships across a wide range of mediums and community projects,” said a club statement.

“Whilst we anticipated some negative responses to the announcement of the partnership with a betting company, the club understands the reaction to BK8, their affiliates and other similar brands’ ways of marketing, the values of which do not align with those of the football club.

“On this occasion, we got it wrong. For that, and any offence caused, the club apologises.”

Contact the writer of this story at paul.nicholson@insideworldfootball