Premier League Clubs Keep Bookmaker Deals Despite Shirt Ban
The Premier League's voluntary ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship takes effect for the 2026/27 season, which begins on Friday when champions Arsenal host newly-promoted Coventry City.
Clubs collectively agreed to the move in 2023, but several have kept bookmaker sponsorship money through alternative deals covering shirt sleeves, training kits and pitch-side advertising boards.
The Premier League confirmed the policy in an official statement published in 2023: "Premier League clubs have today collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of clubs' matchday shirts, becoming the first sports league in the UK to take such a measure voluntarily in order to reduce gambling advertising."
The League said the agreement would begin "at the end of the 2025/26 season," meaning this is the first campaign it applies to.
Everton Moves Stake to the Sleeve
Everton is one of the clearest examples of the shift. The club's front-of-shirt sponsor of four seasons, Stake, has moved to the sleeve for 2026/27 under a new multi-year agreement, with trading platform CMC Markets taking the vacated front-of-shirt slot.
Everton's official account confirmed the switch directly: "We're delighted to announce that Stake will become our Official Sleeve Partner, continuing our successful relationship," the club said in its own announcement on June 30, 2026.
The arrangement keeps Stake's branding on Everton's matchday kit while complying with the front-of-shirt rule, a pattern several other clubs have also followed with their own online casino and betting sponsors.
Bournemouth Signs MrQ As Sleeve And Casino Partner
AFC Bournemouth announced a new multi-year partnership with MrQ on July 8, 2026, naming the operator its Official UK Online Casino Partner and shirt sleeve sponsor.
"We're delighted to announce a new multi-year partnership with MrQ, who join AFC Bournemouth as our Official UK Online Casino and Sleeve Partner," the club said in its own announcement, adding that MrQ would also become an official partner of the club's women's team.
Other 2026/27 deals confirmed directly by clubs and operators include Arsenal's continuing arrangement with Betway as global betting sites partner, a relationship the club and Betway first announced in September 2023 and which sits outside the front-of-shirt restriction as a global partnership rather than a shirt sponsorship.
Some Clubs Have Dropped Gambling Sponsors Entirely
Not every club has replaced a gambling sponsor with another. Fulham and Crystal Palace do not list any gambling companies among their club partners for 2026/27.
Coventry City, promoted back to the Premier League this season, has had no gambling ties since owner Doug King personally ended the club's betting sponsorships ahead of the 2023/24 season, saying he did not want betting promoted through the club.
The contrast highlights that the Premier League's ban only ever applied to the specific front-of-shirt position.
Sleeve panels, training kit branding and stadium advertising boards were never covered by the 2023 agreement, leaving clubs free to continue commercial relationships with betting and casino operators through those channels as the new season kicks off this week.
Latest News from Gambling.com
Casino
