With just under two more seasons remaining until the Premier League's voluntary ban on front-of-shirt betting sponsors takes effect, it's notable that 11 out of 20 clubs this season have betting companies as their main front-of-shirt sponsors. In fact, this is 3 more than last season and we're seeing record sponsorship fees being paid by betting brands eager to maximise their exposure before this window closes. Whilst the deadline for the voluntary ban was set for the end of the 2025/26 season to enable clubs to 'transition away' from betting deals, it looks more like clubs are piling in to make the most of the current opportunities before the inevitable occurs.
It raises several interesting questions for the future:
1. Are clubs already scouting for non-betting sponsors to replace this revenue stream? If so, which sectors are being targeted? With many clubs likely to be competing for front-of-shirt deals to replace betting sponsors at the same time, competition for deals for the 2026/27 season is going to be fierce.
2. Will betting operators be able to navigate around the voluntary ban? In other major European leagues, we've seen the emergence of 'sports news' and 'sports entertainment' sub-brands affiliated to betting operators, allowing operators to continue promoting their core services—just one step removed from explicitly displaying betting brands on shirts and signage. See Inter Milan's new deal with Betsson.sport for a good example of this.
3. Will the Premier League finally adopt Virtual Perimeter LED (VLED) advertising technology? Serie A, LaLiga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 have already embraced VLED, allowing clubs to continue selling sponsorship and advertising packages to betting brands but on an overseas regional basis – i.e. not visible in the domestic market. This has been a crucial strategy for Spanish and Italian clubs to offset revenue shortfalls from domestic betting ad bans and has opened up valuable new revenue streams for leagues and clubs.
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