Betway announced Friday it reached a multi-year agreement to be the official global betting partner of reigning four-time Premier League champion Manchester City, as sportsbooks have begun to make their move beyond shirt sponsors in the United Kingdom.

Nine teams in England’s top flight — nearly half the 20-team Premier League — will have sportsbooks as front-of-shirt sponsors for the 2024-25 season. The upcoming season is the last that such deals can be in place after the Premier League voted in April 2023 to voluntarily ban such sponsorships.

The move was widely seen as the Premier League getting out ahead of the release of last year’s Gambling White Paper by the previous government’s administration. It proposed multiple changes to practically every gambling discipline throughout the United Kingdom, some of which have come into effect.

Betway, whose parent company, Super Group, announced earlier this month it would leave the United States sports betting market to focus its energies on internet casino gaming in the mature markets of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are the front-of-shirt sponsor of fellow Premier League side and East London-based West Ham United.

“We are absolutely delighted to become Manchester City’s Official Global Betting Partner,” said Super Group CEO Neal Manashe in a joint statement. “This agreement cements our place in the top tier of Premier League partners, ensuring that our Betway brand reaches fans in all corners of the globe.”

While Betway will not be seen on Manchester City’s kit, its logo will be featured across digital platforms and in-stadia assets at Etihad Stadium. That in-stadia signage will be widely viewed both in England and in Europe, as Manchester City will again participate in the UEFA Champions League, the continent’s top club competition, which it won for the first time in 2023.

Manchester City, currently playing exhibition matches in the United States for its preseason, enters the 2024-25 season as the odds-on favorite to win its fifth consecutive Premier League title. That would further its unprecedented streak in English top-flight football dating back Preston North End winning the first title in 1889.

“We are pleased to announce Betway as our Official Global Betting Partner today,” said City Football Group Ferro Soriano. “As a globally recognized brand, Betway has a strong pedigree and history of working with high-profile brands within the sports space and we’re excited to work together throughout the partnership.”