(AsiaGameHub) – Manchester United appears poised to strengthen its links to the gambling industry, as a high-value deal with Betway propels the relationship between football and gambling into a new era.
This week, reports have surfaced of a £20m trainingwear sponsorship agreement with Betway—likely the most landmark deal since the Premier League’s voluntary front-of-shirt sponsorship ban.
While the Daily Mail noted this agreement would be among the most lucrative of its kind in global football, it replaces a similarly valued partnership with blockchain firm Tezos, which concluded in June 2025 and was reported to be worth £25m annually.
Some had previously expected alternative sponsorship costs to rise due to the ban. However, this latest deal suggests market values will stay at previous levels, largely dependent on a club’s profile.
Manchester United already has existing agreements with several betting companies, and this deal only deepens the club’s ties to the industry.
Parimatch signed a multi-year partnership in August 2025 to become the club’s betting partner for the Asia and MENA regions.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Betfred are also listed as regional partners on Manchester United’s website.
With the front-of-shirt ban leaving a reported £80m sponsorship gap, clubs are now exploring alternative ways to tap into the gambling industry’s substantial market spend.
Fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur has had BetMGM as its trainingwear sponsor for several years, while restrictions do not apply to other areas like shirt sleeves and sponsor hoardings.
Though conventional wisdom holds the front-of-shirt sponsor is the most prominent, the age of social media means players are arguably seen more often in trainingwear than in their playing kits.
Teams worldwide release hours of training ground content daily across social media. Meanwhile, Manchester United players warming up before and during games will undoubtedly display the Betway logo when captured by TV cameras.
The scale of this deal is unique to a club of Manchester United’s size, which remains one of the most recognizable brands globally despite a torrid few seasons on the pitch.
Social media content and training videos from Manchester United will be viewed millions of times, adding major value to the Betway deal.
In comparison, Tottenham’s deal with BetMGM is rumored to be worth £10m. Meanwhile, Liverpool’s contract with AXA is also valued at over £20m annually—though this includes training ground naming rights as well as training kit branding.
Lower-ranked, less high-profile clubs will not be able to command such fees.
However, there is no doubt similar deals with the gambling industry are being considered to mitigate the ban’s impact and bring in much-needed revenue.
On the prospect of sleeve sponsorship, Russel Yershon, Director at Connecting Brands, told Insider Sport: “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.”
As a result, this move raises the question: Is the league’s ban simply a token gesture that shifts gambling brands to other areas like training wear, or will it have a real impact on the sector’s visibility throughout the Premier League?
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