English Premier League kicks off with gambling sponsorship still dominant

Some 11 out of 20 Premier League clubs still have front-of-shirt gambling sponsors for the 2025-26 season despite a ban from next year.

UK.- Gambling operators are making the most of high-profile front-of-shirt Premier League team sponsorship as the 2025-26 seasons kicks off this weekend. Despite the upcoming ban from next season, 11 out of the 20 teams in the English Premier League have gambling sponsors for the new campaign. That’s level with last year.

The 11 gambling brands include major Gambling Commission-regulated domestic players like Boyle Sports (West Ham) and Hollywood Bets (Brentford), but there are also operators like Stake (at Everton), which withdrew from the British market in February amid controversy over its marketing, and 96 dot com (at Burnley), which is not available in the UK. Several brands continue to appear despite being affected by TGP Europe’s surrender of its Gambling Commission licence.

The other Premier League clubs with front-of-shirt gambling sponsors for 2025-26 are: Aston Villa (Betano), Bournemouth (bj88), Crystal Palace (NET88), Fulham (SBOTOP), Nottingham Forest (Bally’s), Sunderland (W88) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (DEBET).

With 11 sponsors, gambling remains easily the largest sector represented on the front of Premier League shirts, trailed by finance, insurance and banking (three sponsors) and airlines (two sponsors). Chelsea has yet to announce a sponsor for the season.

The Premier League’s voluntary ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship announced back in April 2023 will come into force at the start of the 2026-27 season in a year’s time. Gambling sponsorship will still be permitted in other locations, including on shirt sleeves.

Meanwhile, several countries have introduced statutory bans on all gambling sponsorship in sports. Belgium introduced a ban in January and the Netherlands’ prohibition came into force at the start of July. At the same time, Italy, which was one of the first European countries to impose a ban, is considering reversing the measure in a bid to revive the finances of sports clubs.

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See also: FIFA warns gambling sponsorship not allowed for referee shirts or VAR rooms