Everton are searching for a new front-of-shirt sponsor, with their existing deal with Stake expiring at the end of 2025-26.
The deal – which will have been worth around £40m to Everton over its four-year lifetime – will not be renewed because the Premier League is set to introduce a ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship.
The ban comes into place from the beginning of 2026-27, leaving 11 clubs scrambling to find new shirt sponsors. This season, however, most teams have opted to stick with their existing partners and squeeze as much value from their gambling deals as possible.
Invariably, this sector writes the biggest cheques for clubs outside the so-called ‘Big Six’. But in any case, much of that value could migrate to sleeve sponsorship, where there is no ban on deals with gambling companies. In Everton’s specific situation, they likely would have given up their deal with Stake anyway, as the company has withdrawn from the UK market after having its license revoked.
Everton's 2025-26 home shirt up close, with Stake sponsorship visible
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Everton will have a lot of leverage when it comes to negotiating with new sponsors, though. The Hill Dickinson Stadium has made them a luxury sponsorship proposition. Annual commercial income is expected to have doubled by the beginning of 2027-28.
The stadium naming rights deal accounts for around £6.5m of extra commercial revenue, while several new ‘Founding Partner’ sponsors have boosted the coffers too.
That is just as well, as Everton have gone backwards commercially in recent years.
In 2019-20, they generated commercial income of £76m. And while much of that drop-off is attributable to the withdrawal of Uzbek benefactor Alisher Usmanov, the difference is stark. Adjusting for inflation, it becomes even more so. £76m in 2020 is worth around £97m today.
MORE EVERTON STORIES
The front-of-shirt rights are probably the most valuable item in the club’s sponsorship inventory. And last week, it emerged that they had partnered with the commercial agency Range to help get the best possible price and deal terms.
“The world is their oyster,” Liverpool University football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire tells Everton News.
“The view of most Evertonians is that they have been quietly impressed by The Friedkin Group. They haven’t overpromised and underdelivered, as was the case with Farhad Moshiri.
Dan Friedkin and Ryan Friedkin look on
Photo by Massimo Insabato/Archivio Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images
“They are settling into the stadium, but they are in a strange position because nobody quite knows where to benchmark them. Everton fans would like them to be part of the same club as Newcastle and Aston Villa – the aspirational teams. They want them to smash the glass ceiling that the ‘Big Six’ have set up.
“They also have legacy issues when it comes to PSR, which has restricted their ability to invest.
“They will probably just about match the previous deal, if not get a small increase. Remember, gambling doesn’t include crypto.”
Stake is a cryptocurrency-based online casino, and their exit would free up both a betting category and crypto category sponsorship. As Maguire says, crypto deals will still be allowed post-gambling ban, and it is one industry which could significantly increase its already broad footprint in Premier League football.