The 2025/2026 Premier League season begins on August 16th. The league boasts billion-dollar commercial and media rights contracts. Furthermore, the top flight of English football boasts some of the world’s top stars. Considered the richest football league in the world, the Premier League relies on sportsbooks to sponsor some of its clubs.
However, from the 2026/2027 season onwards, the rule that prohibits betting sites from displaying their logos on the front of the shirts of English professional teams will come into effect.
In other words, the ban applies to clubs’ master sponsorships. A survey conducted by the Máquina do Esporte portal shows that, of the 20 clubs competing in the 2025/2026 Premier League, ten will have master sponsorships from bookmakers.
They are:
- Aston Villa (Betano),
- Bournemouth (BJ88),
- Brentford (Hollywoodbets),
- Burnley (96.com),
- Crystal Palace (Net88),
- Everton (Stake),
- Fulham (Sbotop),
- Sunderland (W88),
- West Ham (Boyle Sports)
- Wolverhampton Wanderers (Debet).
End of sponsorship agreements
The number of Premier League teams sponsored by bookmakers would be even higher, as two teams have ended their master sponsorship contracts for the 2025/2026 season.
One of them is Chelsea, the current Club World Cup champion, who reached an agreement with Stake, which would be valid from 2023/2024.
However, pressure from fans forced the London club to withdraw from the sponsorship. A survey conducted at the time by the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust found that 77% of fans said they were against this type of partnership.
Nottingham Forest, owned by Greek tycoon Evangelos Marinakis, is another club still without a title sponsor. Until the last Premier League season, the club partnered with bookmaker Kaiyun Sports, which operated in the United Kingdom under a license obtained by TGP Europe.
However, TGP ceased operations in the UK in May of this year. Thus, in 2024, both Nottigham Forest and Crystal Palace, which was also sponsored by Kaiyun Sports, were warned for promoting an unlicensed betting company on their kits.
Premier League restriction on sportsbooks only applies to one space
It’s important to note that English teams won’t be banned from signing contracts with bookmakers. The ban will only affect the home kit’s main area.
Therefore, companies in the sector will still be able to display their logos on the sleeves of shirts and in other areas of the club, such as LED panels in stadiums during games, among others.
