Everton has announced that the club has terminated its partnership with gaming brand SportPesa, with the deal now being concluded at the end of the season.
SportPesa has been Everton’s main partner and shirt sponsor since 2017, after the two companies signed an initial five year deal. However, in a statement issued by the club yesterday the decision was made to end the agreement two years early following a review in the Premier League side’s commercial strategy.
A club spokesperson stated: “This has been a difficult decision but one that allows us to best deliver on our commercial plan and to grasp the new opportunities now open to us.
“The Club would like to thank SportPesa for all of the work that has been done together. Our partnership has seen our first team visit Africa on two occasions, as well as former players and Club staff take part in numerous activations in the region. This has allowed us to grow our own footprint in Africa and further strengthen our special relationship with the continent.”
Everton will be looking to announce a new main partner before the start of the 2020/21 season, as the club aims to find a sponsor that inclines with its ‘vision and future growth plans’.
The Kenyan gaming firm has arguably lost its biggest main football sponsor with Championship side Hull City being the firm’s other major partner alongside Northern Premier League side Loughborough Dynamo.
The news also comes after SportPesa’s sudden end to its two year sponsorship with The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) this month.
The collaboration, signed in March 2019, came under scrutiny by anti-gambling campaigners who felt that a football governing body shouldn’t be directly endorsing a gambling firm.
