Aston Villa inks a shirt sponsorship deal with BK8

Aston Villa, a professional football club based in Aston, England, has gone in for a shirt sponsorship deal with BK8, a leader amongst the top betting companies in Asia. Despite Premier League clubs’ April agreement to eliminate gambling sponsorship on matchday shirts, the deal went through. 

As per the agreement, the deal will continue for the next three years. In this case, the team players will wear shirts during their play with the logo of the brand BK8 on the front of the shirt. Additionally, BK8 will take full advantage of the deal and carry out various marketing and promotional activities to highlight the company’s position in the sports betting arena and the BK8 casino. 

Certain assets will be placed in the club’s Villa Park home and will be used for their distribution to various charitable organizations in the form of related and relevant messaging. This will also have the company offering a localized charitable institute a certain contribution in exchange for every third shirt that is sold. 

According to the BK8 EMEA Managing Director, Michael Gatt, the idea for them is to return a part of what is being received from the supporters in the form of their loyalty. Being associated with football for many years, their intention is to get better connected with the football community through organizing various programs. As per officials from Aston Villa, they have a lot of expectations from the collaboration in terms of brand building in Southeast Asia. 

The deal has been struck in spite of the fact that the Premier League clubs had decided to refrain from sponsorships that were eyeing the front of matchday shirts. As a rule, it will be implemented sometime towards the end of the 2025–2026 season. Villa has accordingly timed the deal. 

The Premier League is also looking closely into aspects related to answerable gambling sponsorships. In the recent past, Newcastle United turned down a deal with Fun88. The gaming operator has been a prime associate of Newcastle since the 2017–2018 season and is currently promoting the club.