As the English Premier League campaign draws to a close, clubs are beginning to pivot commercially towards next season – and that means it’s time to reveal next season’s on-pitch money makers.

Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea became the first clubs to unveil their 2025-26 home kits over the past week, offering fans, sponsors and stakeholders an early glimpse of the visual identity for the new campaign.

City were first out of the gate, releasing their Puma-designed kit on May 13. The shirt features a white diagonal sash – a first for a City home kit – a nod to historic away designs from the 1970s and beyond.

Arsenal unveiled their new look later in the week, opting for evolution over revolution. The new strip closely resembles this season’s version and was worn for the first time in their 1-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates on Sunday.

“I love our new kit, it looks fresh,” said Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly. “I’m excited to wear this in front of our incredible supporters next season. Their energy lifts us – when we step out in the shirt, we feel it more than ever.”

Chelsea followed on Saturday morning with a home kit launch tied to a promotional campaign featuring London-based rapper Central Cee. The release, however, came without a front-of-shirt sponsor, with the club’s short-term deal with DAMAC – a Dubai-based property group – due to expire at the end of this season.

Chelsea are actively searching for a new principal sponsor as they look to maximise commercial opportunities ahead of the new season.

Meanwhile, a separate leak of Chelsea’s 2025-26 kit briefly appeared on Nike’s social media platforms earlier last week before being swiftly removed.

With just one gameweek remaining in the current campaign, more clubs are expected to unveil next season’s kits in the coming days as attention increasingly shifts to commercial strategy and global branding for the new season.

The last matchday of the campaign usually has half the teams playing in a completely different kit to the one they started the season wearing.

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Brentford’s commercial partnership with Motors is entering a new phase, with the automotive platform elevating its recently acquired brand Cazoo to the forefront of its multi-year deal with the English Premier League club.

The updated arrangement builds on the relationship first established at the start of the 2024-25 season, with Motors now using its Brentford platform to accelerate exposure for Cazoo, which it relaunched in March 2025 as the flagship brand in its advertising network.

Motors acquired Cazoo earlier this year as part of a strategy to challenge established leaders in the UK car buying market. Cazoo is now aiming to reassert its presence in the highly competitive online auto space.

Under the new branding direction, Cazoo will take over as the face of the partnership, with expanded matchday activations at the Gtech Community Stadium, in-venue media placements, and access to Brentford players for exclusive content and social campaigns.

The move reflects a broader trend in football sponsorships, where brand narratives and identity alignment are playing a greater role in partnership strategy, beyond traditional visibility metrics.

On the announcement, Brentford commercial director Fran Jones said: “This is an exciting time for Motors as they relaunch Cazoo. We’re thrilled that Brentford will be an important part of its ambitious plans for the brand and look forward to supporting its growth in the coming years.”

Lucy Tugby, Cazoo’s marketing director, added: “We’re delighted to promote Cazoo and expand on our successful partnership with Brentford. We have seen great results from our partnership to date and building this out forms part of our commitment to sustainable investment in the Cazoo brand.

“We’ve got some exciting plans in store for the 2025-26 Premier League season, as we accelerate our shared ambition to become a challenger brand.”

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The Gambling Commission in the UK is increasing oversight of unlicensed gambling operations, issuing warnings to five Premier League clubs for promoting unlicensed gambling websites.

League Cup winners, Newcastle United, Fulham, Bournemouth, Wolves, and newly-promoted Burnley are all sponsored by betting websites operated by TGP Europe, based in the Isle of Man. Clubs who continue advertising these websites could face prosecution.

“This case involves a gambling company that was unwilling or unable to meet the regulatory standards we expect from our licensees,” said John Pierce, head of enforcement at the Commission.

The affected sponsors include:

BJ88 (Bournemouth)

SBOTOP (Fulham)

Sportsbet.io and Fun88 (Newcastle)

Debet (Wolves)

96.com (Burnley)

Clubs have been instructed to perform due diligence on their white-label partners to ensure UK users cannot access these sites, even through VPN technology that might bypass geo-blocking.

“We have already contacted several football clubs to highlight the impact of TGP’s withdrawal from the market and clarify that we will be conducting checks to ensure these sites remain blocked,” Pierce said. “Should any of these sites become available to GB consumers, we will take appropriate action.”

Pierce emphasised that clubs must help protect fans and consumers from gambling-related harm. “All licensed operators with similar arrangements to TGP should take notice of the action taken in this case.”

Currently, more than half of this season’s Premier League teams have gambling companies as shirt sponsors. However, Premier League clubs have agreed to remove gambling sponsorship from the front of matchday shirts by the end of the 2025-26 season.

Premier League clubs have generated approximately £500 million from gambling sponsorship deals over the past five seasons.

The annual value of these partnerships has averaged around £100 million per season, with individual club deals ranging from £5 million to £20 million depending on the club’s profile and international reach.

Insideworldfootball.com