The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has successfully avoided the potential controversy of featuring gambling company logos on the front of team shirts for the upcoming season. All eight franchises participating in The Hundred have finalized primary sponsorship deals with partners outside the betting industry ahead of Tuesday’s opening match.
Securing these agreements proved difficult due to a challenging sponsorship market, exacerbated by the Premier League's decision to implement a front-of-shirt betting ban starting in the 2026-27 season. Consequently, the ECB had allowed Hundred teams to pursue gambling sponsorships as a last-resort measure for the 2026 season only. While some teams may still display betting logos on shirt sleeves or trousers, the ECB has confirmed a definitive, blanket ban on all visible betting sponsorships within the tournament starting in 2027.
Vikram Banerjee, the managing director of The Hundred, emphasized that the board intends to take a powerful stand that exceeds the policies of other global cricket leagues. He noted that while the betting industry remains a significant part of sports sponsorship, the board prioritized its brand identity as family-friendly entertainment. Banerjee explained that the one-year transition period was a pragmatic response to the operational changes and market volatility currently impacting the sport, noting the unprecedented change over the last 12 months.
Following the June 1 kit launch, where only 3 of the 8 franchises had secured front-of-shirt partners, the remaining five franchises successfully signed agreements with various brands, including financial services firms, a global logistics giant, a health insurance company, and an online estate agent. This effort follows a period of significant transition for the competition, which has seen operational change over the past 18 months, since stakes in teams were sold to private investors for more than £500 million.
In addition to sponsorship changes, the ECB is refining the tournament's terminology. The 100-ball format is unchanged, but organizers are moving to remove the word "sets" from official coverage on Sky Sports and the BBC, opting to return to the simpler term "balls" to avoid unnecessary jargon. Banerjee acknowledged that while the initial innovation was well-intentioned, the shift back to traditional language is expected to better serve both existing and new cricket fans as the tournament enters its sixth season.
Cricket Australia has previously turned down potential betting partners for the BBL, citing the league's status as "fun, family entertainment" while other leagues – such as the IPL – operate in countries where gambling is illegal.
"It has been a collaborative effort from teams and partners and ourselves to see if we can get other options through," Banerjee said. "It has ended up working well… We've found a decent, sensible and pragmatic approach for this year."
