The UK’s Biggest Football Betting Sponsorship Deals
Ever since the EPL (English Premier League) was founded in the early 90s, the ‘beautiful game’ has become synonymous with wealth. Footballers, even in the lower leagues, are on ridiculous money, and when you consider things like season tickets, merchandise, investment, and sponsorship deals, it’s easy to see why that is.
Put simply, there is a huge amount of money to be made in the EPL, and consequently, many of the world’s most prominent companies are eager to land sponsorship deals with some of the league’s most recognised teams.
Fairly recently, it has been gambling sponsorships that have been grabbing headlines, largely due to the fact that they’ve been worth such eye-watering amounts of money. Considering in the UK, that football and gambling go hand in hand with one another, that’s hardly surprising. A quick look at any of the big UK bookmakers, or even smaller Irish football bookmakers like Scs.ie show that many have yearly sponsorship deals and partnerships.
But just what are some of the largest football gambling sponsorship deals we’ve seen in the UK, both past and present, and how will changes in rules and legislation affect them? Let’s find out, shall we?
Premier League Sponsorship Regulations Set to Change
If you were lucky to be around during the 90s, you’ll likely remember just how wild they were. This was reflected not only in films, TV, music, and pop culture, but also, in terms of football sponsorship deals as well.
Back in the day, you’d find beer, cider, alcohol, fast food, and tobacco manufacturers all sponsoring the EPL and EFLs various teams. Take Carlsberg for example. This Danish brewery company became synonymous with Liverpool FC. To this day, most fans consider the Carlsberg-sponsored kit to be the club’s most iconic.
As the years passed by however, rules, regulations, and general principles began to change. Footballers were supposed to be role models, so they couldn’t be seen to be promoting unhealthy vices, products, and behaviours. 2003 for example, saw the EPL officially ban tobacco sponsorships. Clubs have also distanced themselves from fast food and alcohol sponsorship deals, though as yet, they haven’t been officially banned.
In the past, gambling sponsorships in football have been big business, and have generated huge amounts of cash, but from the 2026/27 season, football gambling sponsorship deals will be voluntarily banned. Many in the industry expected this, especially as junior football kits were not permitted to display gambling company logos or other forms of branding during the 2024/25 season.
The idea behind these changes is to clamp down on unlicensed firms sneaking into the sponsorship market, and to protect minors from the potential risks of gambling, while promoting sensible gambling in the process.
What are Some of the Biggest UK Gambling Football Sponsorships?
By far, gambling sponsorships are responsible for the most deals in the EFL, by a considerable margin. As that looks set to change next season, we thought we’d look back at some of the biggest UK gambling football sponsorship deals we’ve seen over the years.
West Ham United and Betway
West Ham United are a club synonymous with gambling sponsorship deals. This is evident in the fact that their current sponsors are the hugely popular BOYLE Sports. That deal alone is estimated to be worth upwards of £12 million, though it pales in comparison to the multi-year deal they had with Betway.
Betway is one of the world’s premier online sports bookmakers and up until the start of the 2024/25 season, they had been sponsoring West Ham since 2015. The deal, which was extended multiple times, was valued at £6 million per year, before jumping to more than £10 million per year after the contract was extended in 2019. It is quite remarkable considering West Ham are not a “Top Six” club in the EPL.
Sunderland AFC and Spreadex
Sunderland AFC have to be one of the most impressive teams in the EPL this season. After being promoted, many expected them to drop right back down, but they have defied the odds, strengthened their squad, and Regis Le Bris has built a squad that could be pushing for a place in Europe next season.
Before the Premiership however, the Black Cats were sitting comfortably in the Championship. In 2022, shortly after being promoted Spreadex announced that they had signed a three-year sponsorship with the club, valued at seven-figures.
Sunderland have a rich and storied history of gambling sponsorships, as they are currently sponsored by Asian betting company W88. Before the Spreadex deal, the logo of Irish bookmakers BOYLE Sports adorned the front of their shirts.
Stoke City FC and Bet365
Founded back in 2000, Bet365 is one of Britain’s premier gambling companies. They’ve sponsored numerous EPL and EFL clubs over the years, yet their deal with Championship side Stock City, is definitely one of the most lucrative.
In 2012, Stoke announced that they would be getting a new multi-year sponsor to replace Brittania, in the form of Bet365. Initially, the value of that deal was unknown. In 2016 however, their stadium was renamed, becoming known as the Bet365 stadium. Following that announcement, rumours began circulating, stating that the deal was worth £3.2 million per season, just for the shirt sponsorship. In total, some reports claim that the deal, which has run for more than a decade, is worth £30 million in total. Many believe that figure to be even higher.
Newcastle United and Fun88
From 2017 until 2023, Asian betting company Fun88 were the official shirt sponsors of Newcastle United. From 2023 however, they transitioned away from the shirt sponsorship, and became the official Asian betting partner of the Magpies.
They may no longer have their logo on the shirts of the Toon Army, but they still enjoy a strong and lucrative business partnership, which is set to run for several years.
The kit deal, which spanned six seasons, was initially reported to be valued at £8 million per year, though in 2020 a contract extension was signed, estimated to be worth £6.5 million per season.
