Evolution of the Premier League Shirt Sponsorships

Premier League shirt sponsorship has changed almost as dramatically as the competition itself. Since the league began in 1992/93, the logos on the front of club shirts have moved through distinct eras: electronics and technology, beer and other alcohol brands, financial services and, eventually, online betting companies.

The 2026/27 season marks another major turning point. Premier League clubs no longer carry gambling companies on the front of their matchday shirts after collectively agreeing to withdraw them from that position. Betting sponsorship has not disappeared from the competition altogether, but the change brings to an end one of the most recognisable periods in the history of Premier League shirt advertising.

The early Premier League: technology, electronics and beer

When the Premier League launched in 1992, shirt sponsorship was already established in English football. The companies involved, however, looked very different from many of the global brands seen today.

Technology, electronics and other consumer-facing businesses were common. Commodore appeared on Chelsea shirts, while companies such as Mita Copiers, Tulip Computers and other technology-related firms could be found across the division.

The pattern remained visible later in the decade. A Guardian analysis of Premier League shirt sponsorship found that software and IT companies sponsored six clubs in 1997/98, making that the leading category for the season. Consumer electronics companies sponsored another four.

There were no gambling companies on Premier League shirt fronts that season.

Alcohol brands became part of the Premier League look

Beer and other alcohol brands were also closely associated with football shirts during the 1990s and 2000s.

The 1994/95 season provides a particularly clear example: five of the seven highest-finishing Premier League clubs had alcohol companies on their shirts.

Liverpool's partnership with Carlsberg became one of the most recognisable. Carlsberg appeared on Liverpool's shirts from 1992 until 2010, making it the longest-running front-of-shirt sponsorship of the Premier League era at the time. The club then replaced Carlsberg with Standard Chartered in 2010.

That change was symbolic of a wider movement in football sponsorship. Beer and consumer brands gradually became less dominant while financial services businesses and companies seeking international exposure became increasingly interested in Premier League clubs.

Premier League shirt sponsors became increasingly global

Early shirt sponsorship often had a much stronger connection to businesses operating in Britain, and sometimes to companies based close to the clubs themselves.

That relationship changed as the Premier League developed into a competition with an enormous international television audience. Shirt space was no longer valuable simply because supporters in the stadium could see it. A sponsor could appear on television broadcasts, highlights, photographs and social media around the world.

A BBC analysis published in 2025 found that seven shirt sponsors in the inaugural 1992/93 Premier League season were based within 100 miles of the club they sponsored. By the time of the analysis, sponsorship had become considerably more international.

This helps explain one of the biggest changes in Premier League sponsorship. For many modern partners, putting a logo on a shirt is less about selling a product to people living near the stadium and more about associating a brand with a globally recognised football club.

Financial services grew before betting took over

Financial services companies became increasingly visible during the mid-2000s. That trend reflected the growing commercial value of Premier League clubs and the attraction of football as an international advertising platform.

Gambling companies then became much more prominent.

The scale of that rise is striking. There were no gambling front-of-shirt sponsors in the inaugural Premier League season or in 1997/98. By 2007/08, four clubs carried gambling or casino brands on their shirts.

A decade later, in 2017/18, the figure had reached nine of the 20 Premier League clubs. The increase prompted growing debate about the relationship between football and gambling advertising, particularly because club shirts are visible to supporters of all ages.

Why did betting companies sponsor so many Premier League clubs?

The growth of online betting coincided with the Premier League becoming one of sport's most internationally visible competitions.

For betting operators, a Premier League shirt deal provided repeated exposure throughout a season. The sponsor appeared during live matches and highlights as well as in photographs, interviews and other football coverage.

The international reach was particularly valuable to companies targeting markets outside Britain. Some gambling brands that appeared on Premier League shirts were not primarily aimed at UK customers at all. Sponsoring an English club still gave them visibility in countries where the Premier League attracted a large audience.

There was also a commercial difference between clubs. The biggest teams could command major sponsorship agreements from established airlines, banks and technology businesses. Gambling companies became particularly prominent among clubs outside that group, where they were often prepared to pay competitive rates for Premier League exposure.

The peak of Premier League gambling shirt sponsorship

Gambling's presence continued to grow after the nine-club high recorded in 2017/18. By the 2024/25 season, 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs had gambling companies as front-of-shirt sponsors.

That meant more than half of the division displayed a betting-related brand in the most prominent advertising position on the kit.

At the same time, the Premier League's biggest clubs generally followed a different commercial model. Long-standing partnerships included Arsenal with Emirates, Manchester City with Etihad Airways and Liverpool with Standard Chartered, while Manchester United moved between major global businesses including Chevrolet, TeamViewer and Snapdragon.

The contrast demonstrated that there was never one single sponsorship market. The amount a company would pay, the audience it wanted to reach and the global profile of the club all affected which industries appeared on different shirts.

Why did gambling sponsors disappear from the front of Premier League shirts?

In April 2023, Premier League clubs collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of matchday shirts. The league said the voluntary measure was intended to reduce gambling advertising.

Clubs were given time to complete existing commercial arrangements, with the change taking effect after the end of the 2025/26 season.

As a result, the 2026/27 campaign became the first Premier League season under the new arrangement: gambling companies can no longer occupy the main sponsor position on the front of a club's matchday shirt.

The decision followed years of debate around the visibility of betting advertising in football. In 2024, the Premier League, EFL, FA and Women's Super League also adopted a wider code of conduct for gambling-related sponsorship agreements, based around protection, social responsibility, reinvestment and sporting integrity.

Does the Premier League ban all gambling sponsorship?

No. The change is specifically about the front of Premier League matchday shirts. It is not a blanket ban on partnerships between Premier League clubs and gambling companies.

Betting brands can still have commercial relationships with clubs in other areas. Depending on the agreement and applicable rules, these can include:

• shirt-sleeve sponsorship;
• training-kit partnerships;
• official betting partnerships;
• stadium and pitchside advertising;
• digital and international marketing partnerships.

That distinction is important. The 2026/27 rule removed gambling branding from the most prominent position on Premier League match shirts, but it did not remove betting companies from football sponsorship entirely.

What replaced gambling sponsors in 2026/27?

The first season without gambling brands on shirt fronts produced a more varied collection of sponsors.

Technology and financial businesses were among those moving into the space. Crystal Palace named enterprise technology company Temporal as its front-of-shirt partner, while Fulham partnered with database technology company ClickHouse. Brentford expanded its relationship with recruitment platform Indeed, which replaced gambling company Hollywoodbets as the club's front-of-shirt sponsor.

Other examples showed how broad the market had become. Everton moved to financial services company CMC Markets, while Aston Villa's front-of-shirt partnership involved Visit Rwanda.

Reuters reported in August 2026 that research from Nielsen Sports identified software, fintech and other international organisations as part of the new sponsorship mix replacing gambling companies.

In that sense, the Premier League has not moved back to the sponsorship landscape of the 1990s. Instead, it has entered another phase in which global technology, finance and international organisations compete for the exposure attached to English football.

A timeline of Premier League shirt sponsorship

What Premier League shirt sponsorship tells us about football

The evolution of shirt sponsorship is effectively a commercial history of the Premier League itself.

The early years reflected a competition with stronger links to familiar British and consumer brands. The growth of alcohol sponsorship was followed by financial services, while the expansion of online gambling coincided with the league becoming an increasingly valuable global media product.

The 2026/27 change does not mean the relationship between betting and Premier League football has ended. It does, however, close the period in which bookmakers and casino brands could dominate the most visible sponsorship space on the shirt.

What replaces them is already becoming clearer: global technology firms, financial businesses, tourism organisations and other international partners seeking the same thing their predecessors wanted; the worldwide attention generated by Premier League football.