End of an Era for Betting Shops: New Premier League Kits
The ban on betting sponsors on the front of shirts brings the biggest change in the look of English clubs' kits in two decades, with eight clubs still searching for new partners.
The ban on betting sponsors on the front of shirts brings the biggest change in the look of English clubs' kits in two decades, with eight clubs still searching for new partners.
Fans of the English Premier League will notice a significant change on their clubs' shirts this season. Following the clubs' voluntary decision to remove betting company logos from the front of their kits, an era that lasted approximately two decades and strongly defined the league's visual identity, as well as the business model of many teams, comes to an end.
In the previous two seasons, as many as 11 of the 20 clubs wore the branding of some form of betting company, from online bookmakers to crypto casinos that sometimes didn't even operate in the British market. Their main goal was the vast international audience attracted by the Premier League, one of the most commercially valuable football competitions in the world.
Due to the ban on betting sponsors, eight Premier League clubs had to find a new shirt sponsor this summer. Nottingham Forest and Sunderland are still searching, as is Chelsea, which in recent seasons has only sporadically had a sponsor on the front of its shirt. Kieran Maguire, a professor of football finance at the University of Liverpool, told BBC Sport that this is largely due to the club's perception of its own value not aligning with the perception of sponsors, noting that the removal of betting sponsors has reduced the supply.
"Chelsea has particularly struggled in recent seasons because the club wants a long-term deal at a price it deems appropriate for its current status as Club World Cup champions," Maguire told BBC Sport.
The Premier League has gone through various sponsorship phases throughout its history, from technology to alcohol to betting. Now, space is opening up again for tech companies. Crystal Palace and Fulham have switched from betting to technology and artificial intelligence, signing deals with Temporal and ClickHouse. Chelsea briefly partnered with IFS, an AI technology company, last season.
Four clubs have technology sponsors this season, including Ipswich and Manchester United, along with Palace and Fulham. The financial sector is now the leading sponsor, backing five of the 17 clubs, with Everton signing a deal with CMC Markets. Other betting deals have been replaced by sponsors from the insurance, tourism, and recruitment sectors.
The ban on betting on shirts shows how much the sponsorship market has changed since the 1980s, when corporate logos began to appear regularly on football kits. Back then, clubs mostly partnered with local businesses or well-known international manufacturers like Draper Tools, Crown Paints, JVC, and Sharp.
In the first Premier League season of 1992-93, nine of the 22 clubs had technology sponsors, with Japanese companies making up five of them. Ten sponsors were based in the UK, seven were within 100 miles of the club, and four within 10 miles. Today, only four clubs have a British sponsor, and three of those are based in London, more than 100 miles from the relevant clubs. Only Ipswich has a local company, Halo from Stowmarket, 12 miles away.
The Premier League's commercial revenue has grown by almost 4,000 percent, from £58 million to £2.4 billion in the 2024-25 season. According to Maguire, one of the biggest components of commercial revenue is precisely the front-of-shirt sponsorship deals.
The difference in contract values is dramatic. Manchester United's deal with Snapdragon is estimated at around £60 million a year, while a newly promoted club can expect at most £5-6 million. The big six clubs are looking for at least £10 million per season and can double that if there are secondary relationships with sponsors. On the other hand, other clubs may be willing to accept amounts below £1 million, although that could change from the 2026-27 season as betting companies move off the front of shirts.
Historically, the explosion of betting sponsorships began in 2006 with Tottenham's record four-year deal with Mansion worth £34 million. Twenty years later, Tottenham's 2019 deal with financial firm AIA is worth £320 million over eight years, or £40 million per season, almost five times more than Mansion.
Since the 2017-18 season, clubs have been allowed to place sponsor logos on the back and sleeves of shirts, opening up an additional revenue stream. Some clubs have moved betting sponsors to other parts of the kit, but this is not widespread. Betano moved from Aston Villa's shirt to the sleeve, and Everton did the same with Stake.com, although crypto casinos could be banned from the end of the season. Bournemouth will still have betting advertising on the sleeve and training kit, while Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, and Sunderland have yet to announce new betting sponsors on their kit.
Manchester United's deal with Betway for training kit is estimated at up to £20 million a year, more than the front-of-shirt sponsorship of most clubs. Many smaller clubs don't have separate training kit sponsor deals because the level of interest in the club and potential merchandise sales don't justify the arrangement, so the training kit is included in the front-of-shirt deal.
The next battleground could be cryptocurrency companies appearing on shirt sleeves. BingX sponsors Chelsea, and OKX has a sleeve deal with Manchester City. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has called them questionable sponsorships.
For the audience, the most visible result will be a different look to the kits, but the implications could be much broader. The ban on betting on shirts closes an important chapter in the commercial development of English football, while simultaneously opening up space for a new generation of sponsors who will try to leverage the league's global reach and occupy one of the most valuable advertising spots in sport.
