How are Premier League clubs replacing their gambling sponsors?
Crystal Palace is the latest club to confirm a replacement as the Premier League’s voluntary ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsors approaches.
UK.- The last Premier League football season with front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship has come to a close. When the next season kicks off on August 22, it will be under the league’s voluntary ban on such deals, first announced back in 2023.
The move was announced three years ago in a bid to stave off calls for a mandatory ban on all gambling sponsorship amid the UK government’s Gambling Act review. The voluntary ban only affects front-of-shirt deals, allowing gambling logos to continue to appear in other locations, and it only affects the Premier League, not the English Football League, which is seen as being more dependent on the funds from gambling sponsorship.
Even so, there were fears that some Premier League clubs would suffer a significant financial impact as a result of the move, with gambling deals often much more lucrative than those with other sectors.
Some 11 out of 20 Premier League clubs still had front-of-shirt gambling sponsors for the 2025-26 season, making gambling the most represented sector in the league. With three months to go until the next season starts, several clubs have yet to find a replacement, but two sectors are emerging as potential rescuers: AI and fintechs.
The 11 gambling brands with a front-of-shirt presence during the last season were Boyle Sports (West Ham), Hollywood Bets (Brentford), Stake (Everton), 96.com (Burnley), Betano (Aston Villa), bj88 (Bournemouth), NET88 (Crystal Palace), SBOTOP (Fulham), Bally’s (Nottingham Forest), W88 (Sunderland) and DEBET Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Crystal Palace has now confirmed a replacement deal with the US-based artificial intelligence company Temporal. NET88 will appear for the last time at the club’s first European final next week, bringing the end to an arrangement overseen by RISQ Capital that was controversial due to NET88’s lack of domestic presence.
Bournemouth had already confirmed that stadium sponsor Vitality will take over shirt sponsorship, while Brentford is expected to go with training kit sponsor Indeed. These deals are reportedly worth £4-£5m annually, well below previous gambling‑backed contracts.
Everton and Fulham are said to be negotiating more lucrative deals with the financial services company CMC Markets, possibly worth up to £50m over three years. Aston Villa is rumoured to be linking with Audi.
Burnley, West Ham and Wolverhampton have been relegated, meaning that they can maintain their gambling sponsorship deals for now, although deals with non-British licensed operators are currently the subject of considerable scrutiny.
Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes, has been calling on the Premier League to ban all sponsorship from gambling operators not licensed by the British Gambling Commission. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has promised a consultation on making a ban on unlicensed gambling sponsorship mandatory but that’s not going to happen in time for the new season.
