Behind the Shirt: Examining Trends in the Commercial Relationships Between English Premier League Football Clubs and Gambling Companies
- 1University of Glasgow School of Social and Political Sciences, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Abstract
Background: In August 2026, the English Premier League (EPL) banned front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships to reduce gambling marketing exposure. Shirt sponsorship represents one aspect of broader commercial relationships between football clubs and gambling companies, often not covered by existing industry codes. We charted historical commercial arrangements between gambling companies and leading EPL clubs that have never had front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships, examining marketing practices and commercial partnerships that will remain after the ban.
Methods: The study analyses the presence of gambling partnerships with the five top-performing EPL clubs from 2000/01 to 2025/26 (Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City), collecting data from club websites, digital archives, match footage, and press sources. Within each partnership, we coded up to 13 marketing features across four themes: clothing, stadia, digital integration, and fan activations.
Results: None of the clubs had front-of-shirt gambling sponsors, yet across 25 years they formed 91 distinct partnerships with gambling companies. The total number of commercial gambling partnerships increased over time, with clubs entering multiple partnerships in a single season during an era of expanding digital marketing and direct consumer engagement. Fan-facing activations as a feature of commercial arrangements have substantially increased over time. Offering fans exclusive odds and competitions/experiences was present in over 80% of the commercial partnerships reviewed. Other common features included co-branded digital content, which utilises social media and first-team players (82.4%), and pitch-side advertising (71.4%).
Conclusions: The ban on front-of-shirt sponsorship addresses only one element of football’s relationship with the gambling industry. EPL clubs engage in a wide range of gambling-related commercial activities, particularly through fan activations, that fall beyond the remit of existing voluntary Codes of Conduct for Gambling Related Agreements in football. These marketing channels will remain available after the ban, indicating that substantial levels of fan exposure to gambling marketing are likely to persist.
Related
- Between city and screen: a lived experience-led campaign on the commercial drivers of gambling harm
- Aggressive conflict tactics in romantic relationships: Examining the roles of trust and loneliness in a Cypriot sample
- Trust as a human value and driver of organizational behavior in innovative companies across international rankings
- Collaboration between patient organisations and pharma companies: insights from Poland
- Exploring the Relationship Between Positive Play and Perceived Knowledge in Traditional Sports Gambling
BibTeX
@article{creed2026behind,
title = {{Behind the Shirt: Examining Trends in the Commercial Relationships Between English Premier League Football Clubs and Gambling Companies}},
author = {Fabiola Creed and Heather Wardle},
journal = {Wellcome Open Research},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.12688/wellcomeopenres.27602.1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.27602.1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Behind the Shirt: Examining Trends in the Commercial Relationships Between English Premier League Football Clubs and Gambling Companies
AU - Fabiola Creed
AU - Heather Wardle
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - Wellcome Open Research
DO - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.27602.1
UR - https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.27602.1
AB - Background: In August 2026, the English Premier League (EPL) banned front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships to reduce gambling marketing exposure. Shirt sponsorship represents one aspect of broader commercial relationships between football clubs and gambling companies, often not covered by existing industry codes. We charted historical commercial arrangements between gambling companies and leading EPL clubs that have never had front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships, examining marketing practices and commercial partnerships that will remain after the ban. Methods: The study analyses the presence of gambling partnerships with the five top-performing EPL clubs from 2000/01 to 2025/26 (Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City), collecting data from club websites, digital archives, match footage, and press sources. Within each partnership, we coded up to 13 marketing features across four themes: clothing, stadia, digital integration, and fan activations. Results: None of the clubs had front-of-shirt gambling sponsors, yet across 25 years they formed 91 distinct partnerships with gambling companies. The total number of commercial gambling partnerships increased over time, with clubs entering multiple partnerships in a single season during an era of expanding digital marketing and direct consumer engagement. Fan-facing activations as a feature of commercial arrangements have substantially increased over time. Offering fans exclusive odds and competitions/experiences was present in over 80% of the commercial partnerships reviewed. Other common features included co-branded digital content, which utilises social media and first-team players (82.4%), and pitch-side advertising (71.4%). Conclusions: The ban on front-of-shirt sponsorship addresses only one element of football’s relationship with the gambling industry. EPL clubs engage in a wide range of gambling-related commercial activities, particularly through fan activations, that fall beyond the remit of existing voluntary Codes of Conduct for Gambling Related Agreements in football. These marketing channels will remain available after the ban, indicating that substantial levels of fan exposure to gambling marketing are likely to persist.
SN - 2398-502X
ER -