Welcome to Insider Sport’s latest edition of the Partnership Playbook, where we bring you details on the latest sports partnerships and sponsorships.
Do you think sports organisations will ever run out of space to fit sponsors? Probably not, judging by this week.
The RFU has opened up the back of the England shirt to a sponsor for the first time and UEFA has created a new asset by putting STRAUSS on referee sleeves.
Elsewhere, Liverpool’s reported £60m-a-year deal with Turkish Airlines offers us a look at how wide the sponsorship gap has become across the Premier League.
Manchester United’s new sleeve partnership with SumUp shows the fintech is following a route we have seen before by trying to turn football visibility into financial products for fans.
Liverpool’s £60m deal shows how wide the sponsorship gap has become
Last week, Partnership Playbook asked where Liverpool might look for its next shirt sponsor, and this week we have our answer in the form of Turkish Airlines.
The agreement is reportedly worth £60m-per-year, which matches data provided to Insider Sport by Ampere Analysis, which puts the average front-of-shirt deal across the traditional top six at £57m in 2026.
Manchester City leads Ampere’s figures at £67.5m, followed by Arsenal at £65m and Manchester United at £60m. Liverpool’s existing Standard Chartered agreement is valued at £50m, whereas Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur sit at £45m and £40m, respectively.
However, these figures tell a very different story from the rest of the Premier League, as the average front-of-shirt deal falls to just £8.9m for the remaining 14 clubs.
Adam Raincock, Co-Founder of The Space Between, tells Insider Sport that Liverpool’s new deal is good news for the club, but not necessarily evidence of a healthy sponsorship market.
“Put simply, the rich get richer while everyone else fights over what’s left,” Raincock says.
He describes the problem as the “squeezed middle”, where the biggest teams can push sponsorship values upwards, while smaller organisations keep costs lean. Clubs sitting between those two ends face an uncomfortable combination of stagnant sponsorship and media revenues in addition to rising costs.
The pressure has become clearer following the Premier League’s front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship ban. Raincock explains that smaller clubs have had to scramble to replace the premium fees betting brands were willing to pay for Premier League exposure.
“The clubs caught in the squeezed middle are unable to compete for the biggest global brands and therefore often rely on regional sponsorship deals. In a tougher economic climate, those opportunities are harder to secure,” he says.
“When combined with rising wage bills, fans demanding instant success and an increasingly challenging financial landscape, every missed commercial deal becomes more significant.”
SumUp adds Manchester United to its Premier League portfolio
After becoming Newcastle United’s training kit partner last month, SumUp has secured one of the most visible assets in English football by taking over Manchester United’s kit sleeve.
Manchester United and SumUp plan to launch a co-branded payment card offering fans rewards and special offers at club outlets and businesses across the UK. The fintech will also run giveaways, competitions and other fan experiences throughout the partnership.
It is a route that Revolut has taken with Manchester City, using its football partnership to put financial products in front of supporters. Another UK digital bank, Monzo, has arguably gained the most from the UK financial sector with its front-of-shirt sponsorship of Coventry City, which is competing in its first Premier League season since the 2000/01 season.
SumUp is also spreading its football investment across different assets. its Newcastle agreement puts the company’s logo on training kits, whereas Manchester United is giving it matchday visibility across the men’s, women’s and academy teams.
“From fans using SumUp Personal Account to manage and spend their money simply, to the businesses that help make matchdays special, SumUp is part of the everyday moments that bring people together,” said Luke Griffiths, Chief Commercial Officer and UK CEO at SumUp.
“Through this partnership, we want to connect with Manchester United fans in those moments, introducing more people to SumUp and creating experiences that make being a supporter even more rewarding.”
The RFU has found a valuable piece of the England shirt
Lloyds has become the first official back-of-shirt partner of England Rugby’s senior men’s and women’s teams.
As part of the deal, the UK bank’s black horse branding will appear on the back of the England shirt and anthem jackets.
The back-of-shirt sponsor is common in other sports, allowing organisations to create a new commercial asset without replacing an existing partner. However, the RFU has previously resisted the idea in a bid to preserve the authenticity of the kit.
That position looks to have changed against a difficult financial backdrop. The RFU reported a record £37.9m operating loss for 2023/24 and is expecting another loss of around £10m for the financial year ending June 2026.
The deal therefore suggests the RFU is becoming more willing to open up new commercial inventory in order to strengthen revenues.
The partnership also comes with a grassroots element, with Lloyds and the RFU planning to launch initiatives aimed at improving the sustainability of local clubs, upgrading community facilities and introducing tens of thousands of young people to rugby.
Maro Itoje, England Rugby captain, said: “Some of my earliest memories of rugby come from the people I met through the game – my coaches, my teammates I grew up alongside and the volunteers who gave their time every week.
“All of these experiences laid the important foundations for my international career. What excites me about this partnership is Lloyds’ commitment to the whole game; to strengthen those foundations, welcome more people into rugby and help our incredible sport fulfil its potential.”
Referees become UEFA’s latest sponsorship asset
Just as the RFU has opened up the back of the England shirt for the first time, UEFA has created another asset by allowing a sponsor onto referee sleeves.
Workwear brand STRAUSS has become the first official partner of UEFA referees, with its logo to appear on both sleeves of match officials across its competitions, including the Champions League, Women’s Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
Referees are a clever choice, being more visible than ever through VAR, referee cameras and live explanations, which gives STRAUSS a way into moments that are some of the biggest talking points of a match.
Henning Strauss, CEO and Chief Brand Officer of STRAUSS, made note of this, stating: “Referees are in the spotlight at the moment. They are more visible than ever.”
It’s a little less amusing than when Specsavers sponsored Rugby Football League match officials.
The optician worked with officials at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup before expanding the partnership across Super League, the Challenge Cup, Championships and community rugby from 2014 to 2018.
It’s fair to say that the sponsorship played into the obvious joke and handed fans ammo when a decision went against their team.
In other news:
- Virgin Atlantic has announced it is the official airline partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB for LA28.
- The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has renewed and expanded its league-wide partnership with Kitman Labs, adding its My iP reporting platform for medical staff across every club.
- HEINEKEN Ireland has been named the official beer, cider and stout supplier of the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.
- Microplus, with Deloitte as its strategic delivery partner, has been chosen to be the official technology, results and digital services partner of the Istanbul 2027 European Games.
- Valvoline has become a global team partner of the BWT Alpine Formula One Team in a multi-year deal.
- XTB will be the title sponsor of the CEV Champions League Volley Men for 2027 and 2028, adding volleyball to its existing sponsorship portfolio across football, basketball and MMA.
If you would like to stay up to date with the latest sports partnerships and sponsorship deals, you can subscribe to Insider Sport’s LinkedIn newsletter to get Partnership Playbook delivered to your inbox every Wednesday.
