Overseas Crypto Brand Shuffle Announced as Sunderland Sleeve Sponsor

English Premier League football club Sunderland has entered a sleeve partnership with crypto operator Shuffle, which is unavailable to players in the UK.

Shuffle’s brand name appeared on the sleeves of Sunderland’s men’s first team shirts in their 0-2 defeat at home to Arsenal on Saturday. The exact length of the deal was unconfirmed, but Sunderland said the agreement is a multi-year partnership.

Shuffle’s name will be visible not just during Sunderland’s Premier League games, but also in UEFA competition, with Sunderland playing in this season’s Europa League.

Aside from visibility, the partnership will include a programme of exclusive content, fan experiences, digital activations and influencer marketing. However, Shuffle will not be targeting players in the UK market, with the UK being one of the markets where Shuffle restricts its online crypto casino and sports betting services.

Consultation closes

Gambling brands from overseas that are unlicensed in the UK while sponsoring teams in competitions such as the Premier League is currently a point of contention. Last week, the UK government closed a consultation on the idea of banning unlicensed gambling sponsorship in sport.

The ban would come into effect on a fixed date in August 2027, before the start of the 2027/28 football season, and would apply to any new unlicensed operator advertising or sponsorship contracts following the introduction of the legislation. Any pre-existing contracts would be allowed to conclude under their original terms until August 2028.

It is unclear as to how this would exactly impact Sunderland’s partnership with Shuffle, but should the ban come to fruition, the multi-year partnership would potentially have to be cut short. Stake is another example of an operator advertising in the Premier League that does not have a license from regulator the Gambling Commission, as it has a sleeve sponsorship in place with Everton.

Voluntary ban

From the start of this season, the names of gambling operators have been banned from appearing on the front of Premier League teams’ shirts, regardless of where the operators are based or licensed, as part of a voluntary ban introduced by the clubs.

Gambling operators are still permitted to sponsor other, less visible parts of the kits, as well as training kits. They can also enter official gambling partnerships with club.

So far, only a handful of operators have decided to make use of the opportunity to still sponsor teams’ sleeves. Aside from Sunderland’s partnership with Shuffle and Everton’s deal with Stake, Aston Villa has a sleeve agreement in place with Betano, while Bournemouth’s sleeves are sponsored by MrQ Casino.

Illegal stakes forecast to top £1bn

Shortly after the current season started in August, industry trade body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) forecast the amount staked on the Premier League with illegal operators will rise to £1 billion a year after general betting duty (GBD) is raised in April 2027.

Illegal operators are set to take up to £800 million in bets across the current season, and this is forecast to rise by another £200 million in the 2027/28 season.

That will be the first season in which the new GBD will be in place, with operators paying a new rate of 25% of gross gambling yield, up from 15%; bets on horseracing will be exempt from the increase. The BGC was not specific in defining what exactly this data is based on, but simply referred to its data as “analysis”.