The Premier League, boasting a global audience of billions, presents a captivating stage for brands to elevate marketing efforts. But how does sponsorship in the league work? This Insights piece unravels the intricacies of Premier League sponsorships.
Premier League Sponsorship Types
Premier League sponsorship types are split in to three categories: Uniform sponsorship of clubs, official sponsorship of clubs (non-uniform), and official sponsorship of the league.
Premier League 2023/24 Spend & Number of Deals | By Deal Type
With 388 active deals for the 2023/24 season – Official sponsorship of teams is the most popular deal type. These sponsorships can be global or regional in scale and offer brands direct benefits, broadcast exposure (LED), digital, and Intellectual Property rights. As demonstrated below, official partnerships are the more price accessible option for brands sponsoring in the Premier League, with an average deal value of £0.79m per annum.
Uniform sponsorships in the Premier League, however, remain the crown jewel. Securing a front-of-shirt, sleeve, or training kit placement sees brand’s receive huge broadcast and digital exposure whilst also scoring top billing in terms of other rights available. Although a premium investment (average of £12m across all uniform assets across the league), the rewards are undeniable.
Official partnerships with the league, meanwhile, offers the chance to align and activate around the leagues famed IP.
Uniform sponsorships in the Premier League
Of the three uniform assets available in the Premier League, branding on the front-of-shirt is the pinnacle – a phenomenon reflected by the average deal price:
Premier League 2023/24 | Uniform asset sponsorship price
Sleeve branding is a cost-effective alternative to front-of-shirt, still offering significant in-game exposure (although not to the same extent as the front-of-shirt asset). Sleeve partnership values are typically 25% of front-of-shirt values.
The training kit is becoming increasingly realised as an effective sponsorship asset for brands, with ten deals active for the 2023/24 season (rising from four in 2017/18). The asset is a proven model for digital-first brands such as Tezos (training kit partner of Manchester United) where the inventory is engrained across club social and digital channels throughout the week and on gamedays.
The average buy-in prices for front of shirt and secondary uniform assets in the Premier League are forecast to change in consequence of the Premier League’s announcement to withdraw betting brands from the front of shirt at all clubs from e beginning of the 2026/27 season. Find out how in our dedicated article on Premier League Betting Sponsorship.
Official sponsorships in the Premier League
Premier League club official partnerships are typically global or regional in scale with brands receiving full exclusivity in the geographies related to the partnership. These partnerships do not include uniform branding but are underpinned by many of the same assets such as globally broadcast pitch-side LED, use of club IP and player access plus social and digital activations. Where these partnerships differ the most is in the overall price and where brands can market the partnership – either globally or in the designated region.
Looking to learn more about Premier League sponsorship opportunities in your brand sector? Get in touch with the SportQuake team.
We work across all Premier League properties, all inventory and have deep understanding around sponsorship effectiveness and pricing. We help brands of all sizes navigate this complex sponsorship ecosystem to create the ultimate Premier League strategy to achieve their goals.
