Premier League clubs will begin to wear sponsors on their sleeves from the beginning of the 2017/18 season in a move that could earn each club up to an extra £10m per season. No tricks up these sleeves, just cold hard cash.
Numerous top flight leagues, including Spain's La Liga have already incorporated the sponsorship into their clubs and now Sporting Group International have brokered a deal to sell space on the cuffs of England's elite. Eight teams have negotiated an aggregated deal to display the same sponsor, earning them around 20% of their main shirt sponsor. In football money doesn't just talk, it shouts. Each club will still have the Premier League logo on their left sleeve, however advertising will be present on the right.
Ahead of the 2016/17 campaign Premier League clubs raked in a combined £226.5m from shirt sponsorship deals for the season, meaning the sleeve branding would bump each club's earnings up by £2.3m on average. Not every club will be able to reap the extra rewards immediately; at leat two Premier League clubs are tied to current deals where main sponsors ban the appearance of a secondary brand on the kit. Numerous Football League clubs already sell advertising space on the club shorts and now the Premier League are looking to fill their pockets, or sleeves rather.
It's unclear whether clubs can seal sleeve sponsorship from an individual company thus far, but what is clear is that Sporting Group International will ensure the same sponsor will be present across numerous club sleeves, with each club taking a cut. 'It's the first time in EPL history the sleeve can be sold and, hopefully, it will be the first time that one brand has been seen on multiple shirts from potentially eight to 10 clubs," said SGI CEO Adrian Wright.
