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“Unsexy” B2B firms are increasingly replacing consumer-facing brands in some of the country’s most prized sport sponsorship deals, new research has found.
Manufacturing/engineering, specialist professional services, construction and software are four of the five fastest-growing industries appearing as front-of-shirt sponsors of England’s top football, rugby and cricket teams.
The study by sponsorship intelligence firm Caytoo also found that consumer-facing categories account for the five biggest declines between 2019 and 2025: alcohol brands, non-profit organisations, car and tyre companies and gambling firms.
“This reinforces how important it is for clubs to look beyond the usual suspects and target ‘unsexy’ B2B categories that don’t get pitched sponsorship nearly as much as consumer-facing brands but clearly have a lot to gain from sponsorship,” said Alex Burmaster, Caytoo’s head of research and analysis.
“This often includes the ability to entertain clients, prospects and suppliers as well as engaging staff through rights such as player access, which the ‘smaller’ clubs can generally provide more access to than the bigger clubs.”
Despite a decline in prevalence, gambling companies remain the most common front-of-shirt sponsors, with 13.5 per cent of all deals, and especially in football.
Betting brands have experienced a resurgence in popularity over the last two years before a Premier League-wide ban on them appearing on shirts comes into effect in 2026.
“Initially, impending legislation and societal opposition to gambling had a noticeable impact on reducing the number of gambling logos on the front of shirts,” said Burmaster.
“However, various Premier League football teams have backtracked and decided to take final advantage of the category’s willingness to pay top prices before the gambling ban comes into effect before the 2026-27 season.
“It shows economic realities and fierce competition in sports trump other considerations and clubs will generally keep taking gambling’s money until they’re no longer legally allowed to.”
