Premier League club Aston Villa has announced that it has signed a partnership deal that will see online gambling operator BK8 become the team’s front-of-shirt sponsor for the next three seasons.
The club’s deal follows the recent news that Chelsea Football Club had agreed a similar deal with Stake.com despite Premier League clubs voting to end front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship by the end of the 2025/26 season.
At the time the Premier League said that the clubs had taken the measure “voluntarily in order to reduce gambling advertising”. The new rules on gambling sponsorship will come into effect at the end of the 2025/26 season. The timeline allows clubs to fulfill their contractual obligations with current sponsors and to seek out new partners.
According to the club’s announcement, Aston Villa has taken advantage of that window to allow BK8 to become the front of shirt sponsor for all three of the men’s senior teams shirts.
An Aston Villa spokesperson said:
“Through this partnership with BK8 we look forward to exciting collaborations together that will help to grow both brands, particularly within Southeast Asia.”
This is not the first time that BK8 has been involved with an English football club having previously partnered with Crystal Palace, Burnley F.C., Huddersfield Town F.C., and Norwich City. In 2021, Norwich opted to cancel its deal with the company following complaints from fans over sexualised marketing and advertising by BK8.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.