Everton are now looking to find their next front-of-shirt sponsor ahead of the start of the 2026/27 season.
David Moyes has seen a lot change on Merseyside since he made his return to the club back in January, with The Friedkin Group now at the helm.
A lot has changed when it comes to Everton’s finances, and there is even more scope for more money to come into the club.
The Friedkins have sold the Everton Women’s team earlier in the year to navigate through a PSR loophole which would benefit the men’s side.
Having moved into the Hill Dickinson Stadium, a host of new opportunities will open for Everton in a financial sense.
Already, Everton will host a rugby fixture this weekend, which will generate revenue to boost the books against the financial regulations.
Everton is going to become a much more attractive club to invest in now they have a state-of-the-art stadium that is the envy of most.
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It did not take Everton long to find a sponsor for their new stadium, which cannot be said for clubs like Tottenham Hotspur.
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Everton secured a lucrative deal stadium naming rights deal with Hill Dickinson that is already becoming a household name among football fans.
However, the club are now looking for a little bit of help when it comes to replacing their current shirt sponsor ahead of the new regulations being introduced to the Premier League.
According to Sports Business Journal, Everton have recruited the help of Range Sports to help them find their next lucrative sponsorship deal.
Everton News’ finance expert Adam Williams has cast his eyes over the development to share what could be next for the Toffees.
“There is a rush to get new front-of-shirt partners ahead of the self-imposed ban on gambling logos in that particular sponsorship category,” Williams told Everton News.
“In reality, it’s a self-imposed ban in name only. Premier League clubs have unanimously voted in favour of the ban, but they were jumping before they were pushed. The government would have intervened eventually, especially with the Independent Football Regulator around the corner. If they could, most clubs would love to keep hold of their gambling sponsors. They simply pay much more than companies from any other sector – in relative terms, at least.
“I’m aware of one now-former Premier League club, for example, who rejected a £10m-a-year deal from an Asian gambling company because of pressure from fans. Eventually, the non-gambling deal they signed was worth around £4m annually, which shows you the financial value of the industry to the sport. Gambling is built into the very architecture of the sport, just as the televisual experience and digital media are.”
“The problem for Everton now is that there are 11 clubs looking for a non-gambling front-of-shirt sponsor. It’s a buyer’s market. Some experts think that will drive down prices. In the short term, at least. A lot of that value might migrate to shirt sleeve sponsorship, but we can’t say that for certain.”
The Friedkins had a big say in Everton’s third kit design and they will now have an opportunity to bring a considerable sum of money into the club through their search for a new sponsor deal.
“Everton’s deal with Stake is worth around £10m annually. I think with the new stadium which sponsors want to be associated with, the commercial contacts that Friedkin has and so on, they should be able to replicate that or perhaps get a modest increase. If it wasn’t the last year of front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship, I’d suggest that they could maybe get a £15-20m deal, but I think the market is against them this time around.
“It’s interesting that they have chosen Range ahead of Elevate, who were the agency that represented them in their search for a naming rights partner. I think the fact that Flint Reilly was one of the delegation who pitched to Everton won’t have hurt. He used to work with Dave Beeston at FSG.”
Dan Friedkin could arrange a sponsorship deal for Everton with a company that he currently has a connection to.
That comes after a recent change to the APT regulations following Manchester City’s tribunal hearing earlier in the year.
“Many of the glass-half-full commercial people I speak with in football are framing the gambling ban as accelerating a process towards a more sophisticated sponsorship strategy anyway,” Williams added.
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“The wisdom in this field is that you need a partner that aligns with your club’s image and one which you can actively collaborate with. Basically, it should be a genuine partnership rather than simply using the shirt as a billboard. Look at the Hill Dickinson relationship…. they probably could have got a more lucrative deal in another sector, but the fact that it was a firm with a local history, a palatable brand name and so on swayed it for them.
“Friedkin’s other team, Roma, have had partnered with Gulf state entities in recent years – Qatar Airways and Riyadh Season. With the multi-club operation they have got running now under Pursuit Sports, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a shared sponsor. We’re seeing a lot of multi-clubs go down that route.”