Sports

Gambling out – who is in? The changing face of Premier League shirts

Published

3 hours ago

August 13, 2026

In the late 1970s, football clubs were actively searching for new revenue streams, but there had been resistance to front-of-shirt sponsorship – especially from TV companies who argued that it amounted to free advertising.

The Football Association and the Football League relented before the start of the 1979-80 season, but sponsors’ logos still had to be removed for televised games and all cup ties.

Everton made history when Hafnia, a Danish tinned meat company, was the first sponsor to appear on a shirt, followed days later by Liverpool, who had signed up with Japanese electronics firm Hitachi.

By 1983-84 the TV ban was scrapped, and all 22 top-flight clubs had deals.

The early years were dominated by emerging electronics companies such as JVC, Panasonic, Pioneer and Sharp.

In the first Premier League season in 1992-93, nine of the 22 clubs had technology sponsors, with Japanese companies accounting for five of them.

Ten sponsors were based in the UK, with seven within 100 miles of their club and four inside 10 miles. One club, Wimbledon, went through the full season without a shirt sponsor.

Today, only four teams have a UK sponsor. Three of those have their headquarters in London, more than 100 miles away from the relevant club.

Now only Ipswich have a local company, with Halo located 12 miles away in Stowmarket.

These days supporters may have to put company names into a search engine to discover what they do, and where they are from – whether that be American tech firm Snapdragon, South African energy drink KNOX Hydration or US artificial intelligence firms ClickHouse and Temporal.

Maguire explained how the value of these deals had soared, with commercial revenue having gone up “by nearly 4,000% from £58m to £2.4bn in 2024-25”.

“As the Premier League’s broadcasting footprint has increased so has the value of these deals,” Maguire said.

“And one of the biggest elements of commercial revenues is front-of-shirt sponsorship deals.”

By the mid-1990s, around a third of clubs were sponsored by alcohol brands.

This gradually phased out over time, with Everton‘s association with Thai brand Chang the last beer sponsor in 2016-17.

The real change came with the 2005 Gambling Act, which gave greater freedom for betting companies to put their names on the front of football shirts.

Sports

How to watch Brewers vs. Dodgers: TV channel and streaming options for August 13

Published

2 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

qasimgillani

The Milwaukee Brewers will try to stop a three-game losing streak when visiting the Los Angeles Dodgers at 10:10 p.m. ET on Thursday. Roki Sasaki (5-5, 4.54 ERA) gets the start for the Dodgers, who are 73-48 this season and first in the NL West. Shane Drohan (6-4, 3.87 ERA) is expected to start for the Brewers, who are 74-47 and first in the NL Central.

How to watch Milwaukee Brewers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Brewers vs. Dodgers odds

Favorite Moneyline: Dodgers -149
Underdog Moneyline: Brewers +125
Total: 8.5
Total Over Odds: -102
Total Under Odds: -118

Injury reports

Dodgers

Dalton Rushing: 10 Day IL (Arm), Brock Stewart: 15 Day IL (Shoulder), Will Klein: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Bobby Miller: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Gavin Stone: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Jake Cousins: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Blake Treinen: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Will Smith: 60 Day IL (Neck), Brusdar Graterol: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Kris Bubic: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Tyler Glasnow: 60 Day IL (Back), Ben Casparius: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Freddie Freeman: day-to-day (Shoulder)

Brewers

Sal Frelick: 10 Day IL (Shoulder), Cooper Pratt: 10 Day IL (Hamstring), JoJo Romero: 15 Day IL (Appendix), Joel Kuhnel: 15 Day IL (Shoulder), Brandon Woodruff: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Rob Zastryzny: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Brian Fitzpatrick: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Angel Zerpa: 60 Day IL (Forearm), Quinn Priester: 60 Day IL (Wrist)

Stats to know

Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani has hit 27 home runs this season, which ranks 9th in MLB. He has also tallied 74 RBIs (13th in MLB) and has scored 77 runs. In 509 plate appearances, he has recorded a .292 BA, .393 OBP and .544 SLG with a 13.6% walk rate and a 23% strikeout rate. He has been effective on the base paths, recording seven steals on 10 attempts.
In 517 plate appearances, Andy Pages has slashed .270/.337/.454 this season. He has hit 19 long balls and driven in 76 runs (10th in MLB) with a strikeout rate of 20.1% and a walk rate of 8.3%. He has 11 stolen bases on 18 attempts. He has come around to score 66 times.
Brice Turang has hit 16 home runs this season. He has also tallied 76 RBIs (10th in MLB) and has scored 74 runs. In 523 plate appearances, he has recorded a .268 BA, .360 OBP and .450 SLG with a 12.6% walk rate and a 25.2% strikeout rate. He has been effective on the base paths, recording 16 steals on 21 attempts.
In 430 plate appearances, Jake Bauers has posted a 25.3% strikeout rate and a 14% walk rate while slashing .268/.374/.499 with 21 home runs, 67 RBIs and 69 runs scored. He has stolen eight bases on 11 attempts.

This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.

Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images

Sports

Carrick pushing to improve the squad this summer

Published

10 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

qasimgillani

Ahead of his first full Premier League campaign in charge at Old Trafford, Carrick feels the squad is making good progress.

Sports

Richie Berrington and Lyle Robertson star as Scotland crush Canada

Published

17 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

qasimgillani

ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series, Forthill

Scotland 347-7 (50 overs): Berrington 120, McMullen 64, Cross 51, Jones 41; Shirzad 4-60

Canada 177 (35 overs): P. Singh 42; Robertson 6-52

Scotland win by 170 runs

Scorecard

Captain Richie Berrington and debutant Lyle Robertson starred as Scotland enjoyed a thumping 170-run Cricket World Cup League 2 victory over Canada at Forthill.

Berrington, 39, hit an impressive 120 as the hosts posted an imposing total of 347 from their 50 overs before Falkland off-spinner Robertson ripped through Canada’s batting order, taking six wickets for 52 runs.

Berrington’s seventh one-day international century included four sixes, taking his overall haul to 90 – a new Scottish record, overtaking George Munsey’s 87.

Brandon McMullen (64) shared a third-wicket partnership of 140 with his captain after the departure of openers Finlay McCreath and Michael English had Scotland on 25-2 in the seventh over.

Michael Jones and Matthew Cross kept up the brisk run rate with knocks of 41 and 51 not out respectively and Jack Jarvis added 30 from 14 balls for a 347-7 total.

Berrington was also involved as Canada lost their first wicket in the third over of their reply, taking a catch from the bowling of Mark Watt.

Pargat Singh (42) was the only Canadian batter to offer any meaningful resistance as Robertson staked his claim for a regular place in the Scotland side.

The 23-year-old picked up his first international wicket as Harsh Thaker picked out Oliver Davidson on the midwicket boundary and his day got even better as he took five scalps from his final 15 deliveries to finish with remarkable figures.

After dismissing Shreyas Movva and Zahid Shirzad in successive balls for his five-wicket haul, Robertson had number 11 Kaleem Sana in his sights for a hat-trick.

That particular feat was not to be, but Robertson ripped one back through bat and pad with the last ball of his spell to seal a massive win and cap a dream debut.

Scotland were already assured of place in the World Cup qualifier after last week’s win over the same opponents.

Having beaten the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, the defending champions are now top of the World Cup League 2 standings, although they have played four more matches than the United States, who sit two points behind.