The decline coincides with the potential ban of such sponsorship in sport, a key issue of the Government review of the 2005 Gambling Act.

Caytoo’s biennial study analysed the primary sponsor of 221 English men’s and women’s sports teams across football, cricket, rugby union and rugby league.

Since the last study, gambling sponsorship in team sports has fallen from 15.3% to 8.1%, and now sits fourth in the list of the most popular types of sponsor. Leading the way is construction & engineering at 11.2%, followed by automotive in second and financial services in third, at 9.4% and 8.5% respectively.

The biggest decline in terms of gambling sponsorship was recorded in football, which fell from 32.7% to 15.2%. Gambling is, however, still the most prevalent sector within football.

“This change has been driven by the greater demand from society for professional sports to be more socially responsible when it comes to their fans and communities,” said Caytoo head of research and analysis Alex Burmaster.

Airlines & aviation companies, alcohol and the logistics & supply chain sector also saw a drop in market share.