YouGov’s latest poll has revealed Premier League football fans are more likely to favour sponsorless shirts, with four in ten saying they prefer the kit without advertising.
The market research firm surveyed 1,000 Premier League supporters to see whether football fans preferred promotional advertisements on player’s kits.
It found that respondents were more likely to prefer sponsorless shirts than those with sponsors on the front, by 42% to 11%, while four in ten (44%) Premier League fans said they had no preference either way.
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The data comes in the wake of the news that Chelsea FC has agreed a new shirt sponsor deal with Infinite Athlete for the upcoming season. One report claimed the new sponsorship was worth more than the £40 million a year paid by Three, the club’s previous sponsor.
The new partnership is not without controversy and Chelsea’s choice to neither confirm nor comment on the proposed deal has caused speculation.
This is primarily because the formation of Infinite Athlete was only announced this month and the new firm has investment links to the Chelsea owners, Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly.
The announcement follows previous Premier League plans to phase out front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling brands over the next three to five years.
This coincided with another YouGov poll released earlier this year, which revealed that three-quarters (77%) of UK football fans would be in favour of banning gambling companies from appearing as shirt sponsors.
