Although the announcement of a newly-promoted side’s sleeve sponsor may not seem of great significance on the surface, Leeds United’s unveiling of Parimatch as its latest partner for the upcoming season could be indicative of a new era in Premier League sponsorship.
For those who don’t know, after this upcoming season, Premier League teams have agreed to a ban on front-of-shirt sponsorships from the gambling industry.
This decision was taken following pressure over the Premier League’s ties to the betting industry, especially with Asia-facing brands with limited association with UK audiences.
While this decision has shut down a lucrative source of revenue for clubs, there are no such rules regarding betting sponsorship elsewhere on a team’s kit or ground, which is where sleeve sponsorships come into play.
“The natural fit for betting operators will be to move their branding to the sleeve of Premier League clubs. This commercial asset is available for betting operators and I would imagine up to half of the Premier League clubs will look to have a betting brand on their sleeve,” Russel Yershon, Director at Connecting Brands, told Insider Sport last month.
Leeds United were promoted as champions to the Premier League after a two-year absence.
The decision to ban gambling front-of-shirt sponsorships was made in 2023, while the club was in the Premier League and sponsored by SBOTOP, an Isle of Man-based sports betting brand.
Since then, the club’s main sponsorship has been taken over by Red Bull.
However, Leeds United’s ties with sports betting have returned through this latest partnership with Parimatch, a sports betting brand that has previously partnered with clubs such as Chelsea, Aston Villa and Leicester City.
The company’s logo will appear on the sleeve of Leeds United’s first team shirts. Parimatch branding will also be visible at both Elland Road, the club’s home ground, and its Thorp Arch training ground.
Parimatch’s CEO, Sergey Portnov, described the deal as a ‘natural fit’ for both parties, and it would appear a shrewd move for the company, given the predicted ‘arms’ race that looks set to begin for sleeve sponsorships.
After the front-of-shirt spot, sleeves are arguably the most visible location for a sponsor’s logo. As such, the space is a lucrative option for Premier League teams to offer to potential partners.
If betting sponsors can no longer spend their marketing budgets on front-of-shirt sponsorships, partnerships that include a presence on shirt sleeves are the natural next target for brands seeking visibility through the Premier League.
Yershon explained to Insider Sport that the cost of securing a sleeve sponsorship is much less than that of the front-of-shirt, meaning that Asian brands targeting the Premier League “may be able to pick up a few teams sleeves for the fee they would have paid for one Premier League club”.
Prior to Parimatch, Leeds United players displayed the logos of Boxt, a UK-based boiler company, and Flamingo Land, a theme park based in North Yorkshire, on their sleeves for the past two seasons.
Parimatch, an internationally recognised sports betting brand, therefore, represents a significant increase in the size of the sponsor compared to previous years.
Although some of this change can be attributed to the value of Leeds United being in the Premier League, compared to the Championship, England’s second tier, it also shows the greater importance betting companies are placing on securing a spot elsewhere on a team’s kit.
If this deal is just the beginning, it also poses the question of how effective the self-imposed ban on gambling sponsorships will be in reducing the visibility of the industry within the Premier League.
If betting logos simply shift from the front-of-shirts to sleeves, training wear and advertising boards, gambling will be just as prominent a part of the viewing experience for fans.
Furthermore, just being a partner of the club will still enable the operator to tap into branding and utilise player assets around marketing, as long as they are within compliance frameworks.
iGaming Expert Insight: The timing of the ban comes as top-tier clubs are under increasing scrutiny around their cheques and balances, and the importance of securing revenue has never been more crucial as football business headlines are dominated by PSR challenges.
With sanctions steep, given both Everton and Nottingham Forest have received Premier League points deductions for breaching financial rules in recent seasons, the importance of clubs maximising commercial funding has never been so crucial.
What the deal underpins is that even as the ban comes into place, the lucrative nature of the commercial relationship between betting operators and football clubs means we will see evolution rather than extinction as we approach a new era.
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