A report published by Play the Game highlights the extent of sponsorship from betting and cryptocurrency companies in European football, further drawing public attention to these sectors’ involvement in the sport.
Play the Game is an initiative by the Danish Institute for Sports Studies aimed at highlighting critical issues in sport. The report provides a detailed overview of the prevalence of partnerships with betting and crypto companies across the top five European football leagues for the 2024/25 season.
The Premier League and Italian Serie A lead the rankings, with all 20 clubs in both leagues having at least one betting company among their commercial partners. In the Bundesliga (Germany), 78% of clubs have such partnerships, while in Ligue 1 (France), the figure is 72%. Only 35% of clubs in La Liga (Spain) have betting sponsors, due to stricter national regulations on gambling advertising.
However, 15 out of 20 La Liga clubs circumvent the ban by entering into deals with Asian-facing bookmakers registered outside Spain, as the ban applies only within Spanish borders. For instance, Atletico Madrid has partnerships with ATY, Leyu, and K8, but these are not listed on the club’s official website.
The report also highlights a growing interest in football from cryptocurrency companies. In the top five leagues, at least 50% of clubs have a crypto partnerи 100% of clubs have crypto sponsors, which may be directly linked to the ban on gambling advertising.
Across the nine leagues included in the study – which also covers the top divisions in Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria, and India – the findings include:
- 173 active partnerships with betting companies
- 172 sponsorship agreements with crypto firms
- 72 deals specifically with crypto betting companies
The gambling industry, and now the crypto sector, are seen as lucrative revenue sources for football clubs, given the strong ties between the sport and betting.
Amid ongoing discussions around the Football Governance Bill in the UK, Baroness Karren Brady (former Managing Director of Birmingham City and current Vice-Chair of West Ham United) noted that the average difference between gambling and non-gambling sponsorship deals is around 40%.
“For some Premier League clubs, this could mean a reduction of up to 20% in their total commercial income,” she said, referring to the Premier League’s front-of-shirt betting sponsorship ban, which will take effect from the 2026/27 season.
A UEFA financial report from the 2023-24 season also revealed that top division clubs raked in record revenues of €26.8bn during the period – the greatest contributor to this figure was from sponsorship and commercial sources.
Among the top 20 leagues at the time of the report, betting companies were the most common main shirt sponsors.
Unlicensed Operators
The Play the Game report also points to the high number of partnerships with operators that are unlicensed in the countries where the associated clubs are based. As a result, some clubs are reportedly trying to hide these deals from fans.
For example, UK visitors to Chelsea FC’s website won’t see any mention of its partnership with Kaiyun, an Asian betting company unlicensed in the UK. However, if accessed from Vietnam or Hong Kong, the partnership is visible.
Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace have both previously received warnings from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) regarding their relationships with Kaiyun Sports.
More recently, multiple sponsorship deals involving Premier League clubs were thrown into question after TGP Europe exited the UK market following a UKGC investigation, which found serious anti-money laundering (AML) failings.
Companies like DEBET, SBOTOP, Sportsbetio.uk, and bj88 had white label agreements with TGP Europe, enabling them to sponsor Premier League clubs. After TGP’s withdrawal, the UKGC sent warning letters to Bournemouth, Fulham, Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Burnley, stating that club staff could face fines or imprisonment if found promoting unlicensed operators.
These clubs must now ensure that UK users cannot access these gambling sites.
Birmingham City was also reminded by the UKGC to conduct adequate due diligence, following an investigation by iGaming Expert, which revealed that its new Asian betting partner, God55, misled users by falsely claiming to hold a license from the Malta Gaming Authority.
A New Financial Avenue
Despite these scandals and tightening regulations, betting sponsorships remain a significant source of revenue for football clubs. Now, with stricter rules and the growing popularity of cryptocurrency, clubs have found a new financial lifeline.
For example, San Francisco-based crypto exchange Kraken recorded a 128% increase in revenue to $1.5 billion in the same year it became the official crypto and Web3 partner of Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, and Tottenham Hotspur.
For the 2024/25 Premier League season, crypto companies spent a record $170 million on sponsorship deals.
The report concludes that the blending of the crypto and betting sectors is especially concerning, as transactions in both industries are “virtually untraceable.”
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