English Premier League franchise West Ham United is not going gently into the fading light of the EPL’s ban on gambling sponsorships, set to kick in at the start of the 2026-27 season.
According to reports on Thursday, West Ham has agreed a new front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Irish iGaming firm BoyleSports. The London soccer franchise will pocket approximately £12m ($16.3m) for the one-year deal.
BoyleSports will replace Betway on the front of Hammers’ shirts
For the next EPL season, BoyleSports will replace Betway on the front of Hammers’ shirts. Bean counters at West Ham will sleep easier after the deal revealed the new income stream will net the franchise £2m ($2.7m) more than had it remained with Betway.
Ironically, Betway was the first to report the volume of bets placed on West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta to receive in-play cautions during the Hammers’ EPL games.
The ensuing probe led to the English soccer regulator charging the Brazilian playmaker with links to match-fixing and demanding a life ban. According to the Daily Mail, West Ham stated it didn’t ditch Betway for snitching on Paqueta, and that the BoyleSports deal was “not related.”
Coalition to End Gambling Ads Director Will Prochaska, however, stated Thursday that the Hammers’ gambit showed a lack of integrity.
Prochaska bemoaned the “replacing one gambling sponsor with another” and that the franchise was “still putting corporate greed above the interest of fans.”
