The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) avoided potential embarrassment after all eight The Hundred franchises secured shirt sponsors from non-gambling companies before the opening match. Notably, the ECB decided not to allow betting companies to sponsor teams from the 2027 season onwards.
New private investors took control of the franchises following the sale of stakes last year. With the freedom to negotiate their own commercial partnerships, all eight teams moved away from the centralised KP Snacks deal used during the Hundred's first five seasons and secured sponsors from different industries.
The Hundred Franchises Secure Non-Gambling Shirt Sponsors Ahead of 2026 Season
The Premier League banned front-of-shirt betting sponsors ahead of the 2026-27 season. As a result, the ECB allowed The Hundred teams to sign gambling sponsorships for the 2026 season only as a last resort to ensure financial stability.
All eight franchises secured sponsors before the start of the 2026 season. Only three teams had front-of-shirt partners when the kits were unveiled on June 1, but the remaining five later signed deals with an online estate agent, a global logistics company, a health insurance provider, and financial services firms.
The Hundred managing director Vikram Banerjee confirmed that visible gambling sponsorships will be banned from 2027 to protect the tournament's family-friendly image. He said that the ECB has taken a stronger stand against betting sponsorships than any other major cricket league.
"From next year, it'll be banned," Vikram Banerjee, The Hundred's managing director, told Cricinfo. "You have to acknowledge that gambling and the betting industry is a massive part of sports sponsorship… [But] there'll be no visible betting sponsorships from next year, which is a powerful stand and stronger than any other cricket league."
We Are Very Aware of the Family Audience - Vikram Banerjee
In May, the board agreed to allow betting sponsorships only as a last resort. The policy also included a minimum sponsorship value and banned gambling logos from children's replica shirts.
"We - myself and the ECB - are very aware of the family audience and what we're trying to do as a brand," Banerjee added. "Our position was to see if we can get it banned for this year. We had a good discussion and the [Hundred] board agreed, in my parts, that it's an opportunity for us to take a stand that is stronger than any other sport in the world."
The temporary one-year rule also allowed players to wear shirts without sponsors for religious or personal reasons. Vikram Banerjee said that the transition period helped franchises deal with a difficult sponsorship market and major operational changes after private investors took control of the teams of the Hundred.
"We felt as a board that this year - with all the operational change that's going on, all the transition that's happening, plus, frankly, quite a challenging market with the Premier League going through changes and all the rest of it - [that] just a one-year transition period was helpful for some of the teams to see them through this year," Banerjee said.
I Don't Know of Any Other Sports League - Vikram Banerjee
Vikram Banerjee said that the change will make the game easier for both new and existing fans to follow. Private investors bought stakes in the eight franchises for more than £500 million. After a slow start, ticket sales have improved, and the ECB remains confident about the Hundred's future.
"The level of unprecedented change that we've gone through in the last 12 months, I don't know of any other sports league that's done that," Banerjee said. "Along the way there's been a lot of learning, a lot of hard work to get to this point… I'm super excited about where we are and what we can achieve, and what fans will see from Tuesday."
"The idea was never just to be different for different's sake," Banerjee said. "Sets, I can see what we were trying to do. But, like anything where you are innovating and trying to grow and do new things, some land and some don't as much… If we strip it back and go back to 'balls', I think that works really well."
