Ipswich Town isn’t looking for a front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship once its existing agreement with Ed Sheeran expires at the end of the season.
Sheeran’s ‘Tour’ branding has been on the front of Ipswich uniforms for numerous years as the team has risen from League One to the top flight, but the arrangement expires this season, and the club will seek a new corporate partner.
However, in response to the growing outcry against betting and gambling sponsorships in sport, Ipswich’s Chairman Mark Ashton declared that the club will not seek a sponsorship with a gambling firm because it is “not the direction of travel we want to go in”.
He stated, “One of the things you won’t see on our jersey is a gaming sponsor. I’m not saying that’s right or bad, but it’s not the path we want to go. It’s not something Ed would like to witness.
Ipswich held a betting sponsorship with Magical Vegas from 2018 to 2020 before signing the Sheeran contract.
The supporter’s club reacted negatively to the agreement throughout its execution.
Steve Doe, Chairman of the Ipswich Town Supporter’s Club, remarked on the Magical Vegas arrangement in 2018, claiming that he was “not comfortable” with it but came to the conclusion that it was “the reality of the world”.
Aston Villa supporters reacted as well when they signed with a betting platform
Similar fan resentment has been seen by clubs like as Aston Villa, whose supporters protested the club’s sponsorship relationship with online betting company BK8, which lasted only one season before being terminated in favor of betting platform Betano.
Before the BK8 arrangement was signed, the Aston Villa Supporter’s Trust requested that the club consider terminating the agreement with the betting firm, citing the company’s dismissal by Norwich FC for oversexualising its marketing of the East-Anglian team’s commercial campaigns.
Much of the fan outcry over betting sponsorships resulted in Premier League teams voluntarily agreeing to a ban on gambling front-of-shirt sponsorships, which will take effect at the start of the 2026-27 season.
This implies that, even if Ipswich stays in the top division this season, a betting sponsorship will only be valid for one season before the ban takes effect.
However, Ashton highlighted Ipswich’s “community-first” attitude as a rationale for not seeking a gambling sponsorship.
He remarked: “We’re a community-based football club, and we will look for sponsors in a different type of direction.”
During his panel session at Leaders Week London, Ashton praised Sheeran’s progression from sponsorship to minority owner after obtaining a 1.4% share in the childhood team he supports.
He said, “Ed is absolutely fantastic. He helps develop and personalize several of the kits. When we introduce a shirt and he appears live on stage in Vegas, we have a reach that even Manchester United and Chelsea would envy, because he is a global celebrity who cares about our football club.
“He sponsored the club when nobody else really wanted to, got us to the Premier League, came to the Premier League with us and said, ‘look, I’ll do a year in the Premier League with you, then I’m going to step off.”
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