On 13 April 2023, the Premier League announced that its clubs wouldn’t be able to accept shirt sponsorships from gambling firms. To allow teams to adjust to the ruling, they all have until the end of the 2025/26 season to let existing deals run out and find new sponsors.
For clubs, particularly those outside of the top six, the change could mark a pretty significant loss. Over the last several years, gambling companies from the UK and overseas have paid hefty sums to don the front of Premier League shirts. So, as perhaps could have been expected, teams are making the most of it while it lasts.
Long symbiosis of the Premier League and gambling
Gambling and sport, let alone the Premier League, have been hand-in-hand for decades. Naturally, this is predominantly because of the prevalence of sport betting. As the online space of gambling has taken off, all forms have become more intertwined with sports.
A prime example of this can be seen with the Hollywood Online Casino setting up shop within the ESPN Bet Sportsbook app. The two form a complete gambling offering of casino gaming – which does feature several sports-themed live games and slots – and sports betting, and players take advantage of this convenience.
What it does is make gambling a relevant sponsor for sports teams. Their target audiences are in the stands – especially in the UK. In the home of the Premier League, some £6.5 billion is made in gross gambling yield per year from just remote gambling. Online, £1.1 billion comes from football betting.
Gambling companies will appear as the sponsors of 10 out of 20 Premier League shirts for the new season, despite football clubs voluntarily agreeing to an upcoming ban set to begin in summer 2026. ⚽️☀️
Senior reporter @GregBarradale explores. ⬇️https://t.co/dZQ9KleOjV pic.twitter.com/DPZ84LqUtp
— Big Issue (@BigIssue) July 19, 2024
By comparison, Premier League clubs made £6 billion in revenue in the 2022/23 season. It’s a big-money industry that can make great use of advertising through shirt sponsorships. It can be argued that, on a base level, gambling’s one of the more applicable industries. However, the Premier League’s so huge now that any company could reap the benefits of a shirt sponsorship deal.
Quickly snapping up deals while they can
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Only two seasons remain for clubs to lap up deals with gambling firms offering millions to feature on the front of their kits. To showcase this surge, in the season immediately after the ban’s announcement (2023/24), there were seven teams entering the season with sponsorship deals with betting companies.
Coming into this season, new deals were announced for Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers, helping to bring the final count – pending Chelsea’s sponsorship announcement – to 11. Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester City, Brentford, West Ham United, Southampton, Fulham, and Nottingham Forest are all cashing in.
The common theme among these clubs, with the exception of Villa’s tremendous last outing, is that they’re not traditional top six clubs. So, as is being shown, the most lucrative deals they can get are from these wealthy gambling firms. It certainly helps the clubs to compete.
However, after next season, it seems unlikely that any Premier League club would struggle to get a sponsor offering money that’s at least close to what they’re getting this season and next. The draw of the league globally only continues to grow, so it shouldn’t be too much of a hit.
As many would have expected, more than half of the Premier League’s teams are making the most of gambling shirt deals while they can.