Kaizen Gaming has extended its Aston Villa partnership by three years and moved its Betano brand to the left sleeve of the club’s shirts, a change that lands as the Premier League’s ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship comes into force for the 2026/27 season.
Under the new deal, announced on 23 July, Betano becomes an Official Partner of Aston Villa through to the end of the 2028/29 season. The brand’s logo will sit on the left sleeve of the club’s official shirts. Betano first joined Villa as Principal Partner in 2024, occupying the front-of-shirt position that the league’s clubs have now agreed to give up.
A sleeve deal shaped by the shirt-front ban
The move down the shirt is not incidental. Premier League clubs voted in 2023 to withdraw gambling brands from the front of matchday shirts, with the collective agreement starting at the end of the 2025/26 season. Betting companies can still appear on sleeves, training kit, and other club assets, which is where most operators with existing top-flight deals are now relocating their branding.
The change carries a cost for clubs. Front-of-shirt gambling deals across the Premier League were collectively worth more than £140 million a season, and the league faces an estimated £80 million annual shortfall as those agreements are restructured or replaced. Clubs with gambling firms as their primary shirt sponsor were given up to three years to transition away.
Villa’s decision to keep Betano on the sleeve rather than let the relationship lapse shows how operators and clubs are preserving these partnerships in a reduced form. Gambling sponsorship in English football remains under scrutiny on other fronts, including Entain’s move to press six Premier League clubs over unlicensed betting sponsors.
Two years of Villa’s rise
Betano signed with Villa during a period of on-pitch progress for the club. Since 2024 the team won the UEFA Europa League and returned to Champions League football, raising its profile in the international markets that matter to a betting brand. Kaizen Gaming, the Greek-headquartered operator behind Betano, now runs in 20 markets worldwide and has used high-visibility football sponsorships to support its expansion. Greece itself has become a growing base for European iGaming operators.
Julio Iglesias, Chief Commercial Officer at Kaizen Gaming, framed the extension around the club’s recent results.
“Our first two years with Aston Villa have been nothing short of extraordinary. We entered this partnership with total respect for this club’s immense heritage, and it has been a privilege to stand next to the team and its global fanbase during a historic period of success, culminating in winning the UEFA Europa League. Beyond football, Aston Villa is an organisation that deeply cares for its community and we are happy to support them. All in all, this partnership has been a natural fit, built around shared ambition, values and trust.”
Francesco Calvo, President of Business at Aston Villa, confirmed the club’s side of the agreement.
“It is fantastic news that we will be continuing our partnership with Kaizen Gaming. Over the past two years, we have worked collaboratively on a number of different initiatives and look forward to further exploring new avenues for growth together. We are proud of everything we have achieved with Kaizen Gaming as Principal Partner and are excited about the opportunities that we can align on in the future.”
Community initiatives alongside the branding
The partnership has included commitments beyond shirt placement. Betano gave up its shirt space during the Europa League final to raise visibility for Acorns Children’s Hospice and the Aston Villa Foundation, and stepped aside during the club’s 150-year anniversary so the team could wear a commemorative shirt. The operator has said the next three years will focus on supporter engagement, community initiatives, and fan experiences.
The renewal keeps a betting brand attached to one of the Premier League’s rising clubs while the league moves gambling money off the front of its shirts. For operators watching how English football’s largest sponsorship category is reshaped, the terms of deals like this one, where the branding shifts rather than disappears, will set the template for what remains permitted. The wider UK gambling market continues to test how far advertising and sponsorship rules will tighten.
Source: Kaizen Gaming
