Manchester United are reportedly closing in on the most lucrative training kit-only deal in football, with sources suggesting the club has wrapped up a £20m with Super Group-owned Betway.
The multi-year deal, reported by the Daily Mail’s Mike Keegan, offers an alternative way to market for gambling operators, which will be excluded from front-of-shirt sponsorship deals from the beginning of the 2026/27 season.
Betway has been somewhat of a Premier League stalwart when it comes to sponsorship, notably sponsoring now-relegated side West Ham United from the 2015/16 season up until the 2024/25 season.
The operator has also recently struck more minor partnerships with clubs including Arsenal, Manchester City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea.
However, a deal of the reported magnitude could represent a game-changing alternative as operators look towards some form of affiliation with clubs in the world’s most-watched league.
While a voluntary ban on gambling companies being on the front of Premier League clubs’ shirts is incoming, there has been no restriction on sponsoring clubs in different ways.
This has left the field open to sleeve deals, training kit deals, social media deals and pitchside LED advertising.
Could Man Utd’s Betway deal set off a chain reaction?
A training kit sponsorship may seem even more value-for-money than a front-of-shirt one too. Man Utd is evidently one of the world’s biggest clubs, and the amount of television coverage and social media images of players in training kits is huge.
Despite the reported deal commanding a record £20m fee, it is still dwarfed by Qualcomm-owned Snapdragon’s agreement with Man Utd for a front-of-shirt sponsorship.
Snapdragon are reported to be paying Man Utd £60m a year for a deal which began in 2023 and will last until 2029.
It will come as no surprise to see other companies in the gambling industry mirror the Betway and Man Utd deal by making similar agreements with other Premier League clubs.
Sleeve sponsorships and “official betting partner” deals may emerge, but it looks like Betway thinks it will find the most benefit by becoming the sponsor of the club’s training kit.
Many Premier League clubs will still be on the hunt for a front-of-shirt deal for next season.
Clubs including Everton, Fulham and Sunderland will have to look elsewhere for sponsors for next season.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth have struck a deal to replace Bj88 with Vitality, with whom they have been associated with in some capacity for many years, and Crystal Palace have replaced NET88 with US AI firm Temporal.
Eliminating gambling brands from being at the forefront of Premier League clubs’ kits is, of course, necessary.
Over three-quarters (77%) of those surveyed in a YouGov poll back in 2023 – the year in which the ban was agreed – supported a ban on this.
However, there was always going to be a way in which gambling companies could continue working with clubs in some form, even if the front-of-shirt was excluded to them – exactly what Betway looks to have done with Man Utd.
It is commonly reported that gambling companies pay above market rates for visibility through Premier League sides, and this looks set to continue by other means than front-of-shirt deals.
Many have questioned how clubs will fill the monetary void left behind by the departing gambling companies in the Premier League, with some rumours circulating that financial services firm CMC Markets is trying to broker a deal with the abovementioned Everton.
The void could also represent a significant opportunity for prediction markets platforms, which have ballooned in popularity over the past couple of years, but that would also surely raise the same issues as gambling companies sponsoring clubs.
There is also the question around the regulation of prediction markets in the UK. The Gambling Commission has stated that it has no problem with predictions platforms operating – but that said platforms will have to hold a betting licence.
Nevertheless, it seems that Super Group has found a way in to market its Betway sportsbook in the Premier League whilst dodging the incoming ban, and Man Utd will be able to cover the payout for former manager Ruben Amorim – which cost the club around £17m – with the reported £20m fee.
