FCA Warns Premier League Clubs Over Crypto Sponsor Deals

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA, the markets and consumer-finance regulator) has warned Premier League clubs that sponsorship deals with unauthorised crypto and trading firms could expose them to legal liability, money laundering and reputational damage. The regulator said on June 3 that such firms may be breaching UK financial promotion rules by using club badges to put risky products in front of millions of fans.

The timing is awkward. Commercial and sponsorship income has already overtaken broadcasting as the clubs’ biggest revenue stream, and a separate ban on gambling logos starts next season. Crypto exchanges and trading platforms have rushed to fill the space. The FCA is now asking whether anyone checked the money before it was banked.

What the FCA Put in Its Letter to the Clubs

The watchdog wrote to Premier League clubs and other parties, flagging existing partnerships and telling them to tighten their checks. It said it had already contacted clubs where it found concerns, and that it would act where needed. Fans dealing with unregulated firms, it added, risk losing every penny and are unlikely to have any regulatory protection to fall back on.

The legal hook is the financial promotion regime. Communicating an invitation to invest to UK consumers, without being FCA-authorised or having an authorised firm approve the promotion, can be a criminal offence under the Financial Services and Markets Act. The FCA’s view is that some crypto businesses and trading platforms are using shirt deals and stadium branding to build brand awareness with British fans they are not allowed to serve.

Millions of football fans trust their club’s badge. Clubs should not let unauthorised financial firms exploit that loyalty by putting potentially dodgy products in front of millions of fans.

That was Lucy Castledine, the FCA’s director of consumer investments. Reports on the deals point to Chelsea’s tie-up with BingX and Manchester City’s crypto partner, both absent from the FCA register, alongside Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, whose sponsors are linked to firms on the regulator’s warning list.

Why Commercial Money Overtook the TV Deal

To see why clubs keep saying yes, look at where the money now comes from. In the accountancy firm’s annual ranking of the game’s top earners, commercial income has become the single largest revenue source for the biggest clubs, ahead of both matchday takings and broadcast cash.

• €408 million ($475 million) in commercial revenue at Manchester City in 2025, ahead of its broadcast income.
• €332 million in broadcast income at the same club, now the smaller of the two streams.
• 44% of total revenue across the top Money League clubs came from commercial deals, the biggest share for a second year running.

Real Madrid topped the latest table as the first club past €1 billion in annual revenue, but the structural shift sits lower down the order. Broadcast pots are flat or shrinking in real terms, and gate receipts are capped by stadium size. Sponsorship is the one line on the accounts a club can still grow quickly, which is exactly why a sponsor offering a premium fee gets a meeting.

The Gambling Ban Left a Hole, and Crypto Moved In

There is a second reason the financial sponsors are circling. From the 2026-27 season, Premier League clubs can no longer carry gambling brands on the front of matchday shirts, a change the clubs made under the league’s gambling-sponsorship policy. Betting logos are still allowed on sleeves, training kit and around stadiums, but the prime front-of-shirt slot is off limits.

That slot was lucrative. Industry estimates put the league-wide hit at around £80 million a year, and the pain falls hardest on clubs outside the traditional big six, which often took gambling deals worth roughly double what a mainstream sponsor would pay. Into that gap have stepped foreign-exchange brokers, fintech apps, payments firms and crypto exchanges, all chasing the freed-up space.

The scramble is real. Everton and Fulham have been in advanced talks with the financial-services firm CMC Markets over front-of-shirt deals, and as the new season approaches, as many as nine clubs have yet to lock down a main shirt sponsor at all. A club with an unsold shirt and a budget to hit is not in a strong position to turn down a crypto firm waving a cheque.

Clubs Have Been Burned by Crypto Before

The FCA’s caution is not abstract. Football has watched crypto sponsors collapse in real time, and recently enough that the memory should still sting.

When FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, it had committed at least $375 million to sports deals, and its sponsorships unravelled almost overnight. The same script played out across the game.

• FTX, late 2022: the exchange’s sudden bankruptcy froze a web of team and league deals worldwide.
• DigitalBits, 2022-23: Inter Milan and Roma both stripped the crypto firm’s name from their shirts after it stopped paying.
• WhaleFin, 2023: Chelsea’s sleeve sponsor walked away after about seven months of a reported £20 million deal, with the sum actually paid never disclosed.

Crypto and trading firms struck around 33 sponsorship deals with football clubs from 2021 onward, many tied to fan tokens that supporters came to see as speculative bets on their own loyalty. Some clubs banked the fees and moved on when the partner imploded. The FCA’s letter is a reminder that the regulator may not let the next failure pass so quietly.

OKX’s Guilty Plea Now Shadows Its City Shirt

One name on the list carries a particularly heavy record. OKX, the exchange behind Manchester City’s crypto partnership, pleaded guilty in February 2025 in a US federal court to running an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

Through its operating entity Aux Cayes Fintech, the company agreed to pay more than $504 million in penalties, made up of about $420.3 million in forfeiture and an $84.4 million fine, after US prosecutors said it had processed over $1 trillion in transactions for American customers without a licence. The US Justice Department set out the guilty plea and penalty terms in its February statement.

For a UK fan, the “unauthorised” label is the practical problem. A firm outside the FCA’s perimeter sits outside the safety net that comes with it: no cover from the compensation scheme if it fails, no route to the Financial Ombudsman if a dispute goes wrong, and limited recourse if money simply vanishes. The shirt makes a firm look established; the FCA register is where you find out if it is.

Can Fans Check a Sponsor Before They Sign Up?

Yes, and the FCA’s advice is to do it before handing over a card number. The regulator keeps a public register and a Firm Checker tool listing every business cleared to offer financial products in the UK, plus a separate warning list of firms it has flagged. If a sponsor is missing from the register, or sits on the warning list, that is the signal to walk away.

Clubs face the harder homework. The FCA expects them to run proper due diligence on any financial sponsor, confirm its authorisation status and understand what it is selling to fans, rather than treating the shirt front as a blank cheque. The FCA’s guidance on crypto marketing sets out what compliant promotion looks like and where firms fall short.

For now the warning sits on the clubs’ desks. The gambling shirt ban takes effect next season, the financial sponsors are still bidding, and the FCA has said it will take action where it sees the need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Premier League clubs did the FCA warn over crypto sponsors?

The FCA said it wrote to clubs where it had identified concerns and would act where needed, without publishing a full list. Reports on the deals point to Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, whose financial sponsors are either absent from the FCA register or linked to firms on its warning list.

Is it illegal for a crypto firm to sponsor a UK football club?

The sponsorship itself is not banned. The legal risk is the promotion: marketing crypto or other investments to UK consumers without FCA authorisation, or without sign-off from an authorised firm, can be a criminal offence. The FCA’s concern is that shirt and stadium branding amounts to an unlawful financial promotion when the firm is not cleared to operate in Britain.

Can fans get their money back if a crypto sponsor’s platform fails?

Usually not. Money placed with an unauthorised firm is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and customers cannot take complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The FCA has warned that fans using such firms risk losing all their money with little or no recourse.

How can I check whether a club’s sponsor is authorised?

Use the FCA’s public register and Firm Checker tool, which list every firm cleared to sell financial products in the UK, and cross-check the FCA warning list. A sponsor that is missing from the register, or that appears on the warning list, should be treated as a red flag.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment or legal advice. Crypto and trading products promoted by unauthorised firms carry a high risk of total loss and may sit outside UK regulatory protection. Verify any provider on the FCA register and consult a qualified, authorised professional before acting. Figures are accurate as of publication on June 3, 2026.