When the English Premier League begins its new TV contract during the 2016-17 season in the UK and America, the league will have a new title sponsor. Barclays is apparently electing to not renew their sponsorship of the Premier League after the 2015-16 season, naming the tremendous growth of the new UK TV deal as a primary reason.

Via the Daily Mail

Premier League sponsors Barclays will not renew their £40million-a-year deal when the current agreement expires at the end of the 2015-16 season.

The bank agreed a £120m three-year deal in 2012 for the present rights – an increase of almost 50 per cent on their previous £82m contract.

But with Sky and BT Sport paying a record £5.1billion for TV rights from the start of the 2016 season, Barclays fear the cost of the next sponsorship will also rise considerably.

Barclays has been the title sponsor of the Premier League since 2001, a span of 15 seasons once the 2015-16 season concludes. The only other title sponsor for the Premier League has been Carling, which sponsored the league from 1993-2001.

Interestingly enough, Capital One’s sponsorship of the League Cup also expires in 2016, and the FA Cup is currently sponsorless after Budweiser didn’t renew after last season. We could be looking at a completely new slate of sponsors across the British football landscape in 2016.

New sponsors for the League Cup and FA Cup wouldn’t take much getting used to, but a new sponsor for the Premier League? That might take a minute or two to process.

[Daily Mail]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.

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