SPFL announce new league sponsor to replace cinch

LEAGUE bosses have confirmed a new ‘record-breaking’ sponsor for the SPFL.

After car dealership cinch pulled the plug on their existing agreement – football chiefs sought a new branding partnership.

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And as Sunsport exclusively revealed A MONTH AGO, a familiar name has stepped up to the plate.

The top flight will now become known as the William Hill Premiership with the betting company also re-branding the three divisions below.

The bookmakers are previous sponsors of the Scottish Cup and become the league’s ‘official betting partner’.

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “William Hill is a name long associated with Scottish football and we are enormously excited to have reached a long-term, record-breaking agreement with our new title sponsors.

“This is tremendous news for our clubs and their fans, for the profile of the league, and for Scottish football in general.

“In addition to the sponsorship with William Hill, our pioneering gambling harm awareness programme with EPIC will help to educate the communities across the 42 SPFL clubs on gambling harm prevention.

“I would also like to place on record our sincere thanks to cinch for its extremely positive contribution to Scottish football over the past three years and wish them and their management team the very best for the future.”

William Hill follow used car marketplace cinch, who replaced Ladbrokes as headline sponsors of the league.

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The previous deal was mired in controversy as Rangers refused to show cinch branding over a conflict of interests and existing ad agreement with Park’s Motor Group.

The row escalated to court before the SPFL was forced into a climbdown – sending an apology to the Ibrox club and renegotiating the contract in 2022 to exclude Rangers from having to display any cinch branding.

But the deal was torn up at an agreed break-point three years into their five-year plan.

William Hill’s sponsorship is said to be ‘record-breaking’ after cinch’s existing agreement worth around £1.6million per season shared among the 42 member clubs.

Marketing Director Michael Sheehan said: “We’re delighted to become title sponsor and Official Betting Partner of the SPFL, as well as launching a pioneering Gambling Harm Awareness programme, delivered by EPIC.

“For decades, we at William Hill have loved Scottish football and its fiercely loyal and passionate fans.

“Now, building on our long-standing association with Scottish football, we are delighted to be playing our part in five exciting seasons of the SPFL.

“In addition to our sponsorship, we will work proactively and extensively to raise awareness of the potential risks associated with betting across the Scottish footballing community.

“As a business, we place customer safety and responsible gambling at the heart of everything we do, and we are looking forward to delivering an extensive programme across SPFL clubs to educate and promote healthy and safe relationships with betting.”