Betting brands continue to have a significant presence in English soccer’s top-tier Premier League, accounting for 35% of the front-of-shirt sponsorship deals in the 2023-24 season and for a total investment of almost $72 million, according to a new report by GlobalData.
GlobalData’s Business of the English Premier League 2023-24 report highlights that seven of the 20 top-flight teams have deals with betting companies, representing a significant share in the market despite the looming ban of such industry deals ahead of the 2026-27 season.
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AFC Bournemouth (Dafabet), Aston Villa (BK8), Brentford (Hollywoodbets), Burnley (W88), Everton (Stake.com), Fulham (Sbotop), and West Ham United (Betway) all have front-of-shirt sponsorship agreements with firms in the gambling sector this season.
The seven deals have an estimated annual value of $71.79 million.
The Premier League stands as the only top-five European league to have this many sponsorships with firms in the gambling market. Spain’s LaLiga enforced its ban on such deals ahead of the 2020-21 season, whilst the presence of betting brands is not so widespread across France, Germany, and Italy.
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For the 2023-24 season, the only other two gambling-related shirt sponsorship deals across these leagues come via Montpellier and Le Havre FC (French Ligue 1), which have partnerships with Paratouche and Winamax, respectively.
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By GlobalDataJake Kemp, sport analyst at GlobalData, commented: “Betting brands have become the big taboo of the soccer sponsorship market in recent years, following the ever-evolving cleanse of what is deemed acceptable on major kit branding.
“Front-of-shirt rights offer clubs the best opportunity to maximize their annual income alongside kit supplier rights and for smaller clubs outside of the Premier League’s regarded ‘big six’, the income from these deals takes on even greater importance.
“Clubs find it difficult to pass up the opportunity to cash in on the added value offered by betting brands. Clubs are aware of the importance of affiliating with the right type of brand but the sums on offer are just substantially more than what any other prospective brand-industry partner can offer.”
In previous decades, the Premier League was rife with brand partners within the alcoholic beverage sector until its official league-wide ban ahead of the 2017-18 season.
Betting brands filled the gap in the market, but the same negative scrutiny is now being aimed at the gambling industry, with critics highlighting the sector’s major issues around addiction and advertising to underage fans.
In April 2023, Premier League clubs voted to voluntarily ban shirt sponsorship deals with betting companies from the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
The decision was made after discussions between the league, its clubs, and the government’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport.
Notwithstanding the impending ban, clubs have been given three more full seasons before it comes into force, enabling existing partnership contracts to be fulfilled.
A three-year wait also means that clubs can, and have, signed new gambling-related shirt deals, as they look to capitalize on the added value coming from the rights while the opportunity is still there.
Kemp concluded: “Heading towards the 2026-27 season, clubs will be looking at the next most profitable deals available to them. Cryptocurrency once appeared to be an obvious successor to the industry in terms of the ability to sign vast deals at inflated prices but the buzz around crypto has since died, and that does not seem an automatic solution for all teams heading to this deadline.
“The financial services sector could prove to be the most fruitful, with heavy involvement in the space already, with five active deals this season, as well as a long-standing history of involvement in big sports sponsorship rights globally.”
