Sponsorship is an essential element in modern professional sports. Football is no exception. Clubs in the leading leagues, including the English Premier League, enjoy sponsorship through agreements with various companies from different fields. Our article will talk about sponsorship trends in the EPL. You will learn about the most common types of sponsorship and which sponsors the league’s top clubs are working within 2024.
Sponsorship for EPL Clubs
Top Types of Sponsorship in Football
The main areas of sponsorship in football are kit sponsors and shirt sponsors. The first of them involves the production of a complete set of sports uniforms. It is not difficult to guess that the sponsors, in this case, are leading brands of clothing and footwear. The shirt sponsors category involves the application of logos and other attributes on football players’ shirts. In this niche, the most popular sponsors are bookmakers, a casino online and other representatives of the gambling industry. Next, let’s move directly to the sponsorship situation relevant to the Premier League in 2024.
Kit Sponsors
In 2024, 20 Premier League teams utilize the services of eight sponsors who are leading clothing brands. According to data provided by Score and Change, the companies’ services are distributed as follows:
- Umbro: Bournemouth, Brentford, Burnley, Luton Town, West Ham United.
- Adidas: Arsenal, Fulham, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest.
- Nike: Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur.
- Castore: Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
- Puma: Manchester City.
- Erreà: Sheffield United.
- Hummel: Everton.
- Macron: Crystal Palace.
What has changed in this category compared to previous seasons? Firstly, after several years of Adidas and Nike leading the way, Umbro has taken the top spot. In the new season, the British brand was favored by Burnley and Luton Town. They joined three clubs that had previously used the services of this sponsor. Secondly, Adidas surrendered the leading position due to the fact that Leicester City and Leeds United, who wear kits from the German brand, left the Premier League. However, the remaining three teams were joined by Nottingham Forest, which allowed Adidas to stay on par with Nike, for whom nothing has changed in the new season.
As for the rest of the Kit sponsors, everything remains unchanged. Castore, another British brand, continues to provide three Premier League clubs with uniforms. Erreà, Hummel, Puma, and Macron also remain permanent sponsors of their clubs. Technically, Puma can be ranked above the others as Manchester City is the reigning champions.
Interesting facts about the 2023/2024 season regarding kit sponsors also include Brentford’s switch to a new home kit. The novelty was positively received by fans and experts. So the club’s management stated that it will be used in the 2024/25 season as well. This year also saw a record-breaking partnership in terms of longevity. We are talking about the contract between Adidas and Fulham, which has been in force since 2013 (11 years old). The second and third positions in this indicator are occupied by the contracts of Nike with Brighton & Hove Albion (9 years old) and Umbro with West Ham (8 years old).
Shirt Sponsors
In this category, the sponsors of the 20 Premier League teams represent 8 different areas. The priorities here are prioritized as follows:
- Gambling – 8 (Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Burnley, Everton, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, West Ham United)
- Financial Services – 5 (Brighton & Hove Albion, Liverpool, Sheffield United, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers)
- Airlines – 2 (Arsenal, Manchester City)
- E-commerce – 1 (Crystal Palace)
- Energy – 1 (Luton Town)
- Entertainment – 1 (Newcastle United)
- Software – 1 (Manchester United)
- Technology – 1 (Chelsea)
As in the previous 5 seasons, gambling is the leading category in Shirt sponsors. 8 out of 20 Premier League clubs favour bookmakers and casinos. As practice shows, representatives of this very sphere are the most profitable sponsors. The only team that refused the services of a gambling sponsor in the new season was Newcastle United. The club replaced shirts by Fun88 with a uniform with the logo of Sela (a Saudi Arabian company providing leisure services). However, this loss was immediately made up for by Burnley. The club management decided to change the Shirt sponsor from Classic Football Shirts to W88.
It is interesting that clubs continue to favor shirt sponsors representing gambling despite the Premier League governing body’s announcement at the end of 2023. From the 2026/2027 season onwards, casino and bookmaker logos on the front of shirts will be banned. However, this ban does not apply to sleeve sponsorship and stadium advertisements.
According to experts, it would be very unwise from a financial point of view to completely abandon such support. It is no coincidence that only the richest clubs in the League do not use it. Moreover, the experience of other top leagues shows that gambling sponsors are the most profitable option. A striking example was Spain, where the government simply forced La Liga clubs to use the services of such sponsors.
