Two Premier League clubs which held front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship last season are still without a new deal just three weeks out from the beginning of the 2026/27 season.

Sunderland AFC and Nottingham Forest FC are still on the hunt for a main sponsor as the front-of-shirt ban on gambling sponsorships comes into effect from this season.

W88, an operator without a UK license, had its logo emblazoned on the front of Sunderland kits in 2025/26, while Forest had a deal with US-headquartered and UK-licensed Bally’s.

Sunderland and Forest’s betting situation

The Sunderland Echo reported this week that, despite rumours no deal would be done, the Black Cats will have a front-of-shirt deal for next season.

Many firms may be attracted to Sunderland for 2026/27 as the club managed to secure a spot in Europe despite being newly-promoted last season.

Sunderland will compete in the UEFA Europa League next season, giving their yet-to-be-found sponsor even more exposure.

Nottingham Forest, however, do not have the prospects of European football this season, despite making the semi finals of the Europa League last time out. 

Forest are already going through a time of change, losing star man Elliot Anderson to Manchester City for a fee of around £116m and welcoming former Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner as their new boss.

Clubs are also rumoured to be sniffing around club captain Morgan Gibbs-White.

Finding a suitor may prove more difficult for the two-time Champions League winners, given that they have no Europe and are undergoing somewhat of a transitional period. 

Wholesale top-flight sponsor change 

For gambling sponsors, it also marks an era of transformation. 

Bookmakers have had to shift from front-of-shirt Premier League deals to training kit sponsorships and sleeve sponsorships.

Many have looked further down the football pyramid – the EFL Championship is set to be littered with front-of-shirt gambling deals in the 2026/27 season. 

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is also currently consulting on a potential complete sponsorship ban for unlicensed UK operators – something which many in the licensed sector have been calling for for some time. 

And while it is unlikely that Sunderland and Forest will head into the season with sponsorless shirts, the situation does emphasise the monetary hole that has been left behind following the front-of-shirt ban.

Gambling companies would generally pay a premium for these deals, and clubs now look to be holding out for similar sums from businesses in other industries. 

Sean Connell, editor of The Sponsor, said to nationwide publication Mirror Football: “It’s an incredibly competitive sponsorship market. The number of brands willing to put their hands in their pocket and stump up £5m-£15m to sponsor a Premier League club is already significantly reduced due to factors outside the sports landscape.

“Sponsors are under an incredible amount of scrutiny to justify their expenditure. Then there’s an unusually high number of teams in the market looking for a sponsor – in a normal year it might only be one or two, but it was 11 this summer.

“The gambling ban has taken what was already a shrinking pool of sponsors and removed a healthy chunk of those. It created what I believe is the most competitive and difficult sponsorship environment that Premier League clubs have ever faced.”

Chelsea FC, who were sponsored by London-based industrial AI platform IFS.ai last season, are also on the hunt for a deal.

The scale of the Premier League is unmatched. England’s top flight has a potential TV audience of some 4.7 billion and is broadcast in 212 territories.

In England, 59% of over-16s have attended a live men’s football match in the last 12 months too, further demonstrating the exposure a company would get via a front-of-shirt deal. 

However, it seems Sunderland, Forest and Chelsea are all willing to play hardball and, even if it is unlikely that any will start 2026/27 without a front-of-shirt sponsor, it does display the chasm that has been left behind by the gambling industry’s departure.