The English Premier League have announced that they decided not to have a title sponsor from the 2016-17 season. And even though Sky Sports already revealed the decision in June, we still want to provide a short overview over the reasons of this decision.
English Premier Premier League to be Called 'The Premier League
The Barclays Premier League will be simply called 'The Premier League' from the next season.
The Premier League have been sponsored by Barclays since 2004, while the competition was previously called FA Barclaycard Premiership. From the 2016-17 season, the competition will be simply known as 'The Premier League'.
According to Premier League sources, the reasons for this decisions reflects the "desire to mirror major American sports leagues like the NBA and NFL in presenting a 'clean' brand."
A Premier League spokesman said: "Barclays has been an excellent partner for the League throughout their sponsorship of the competition and we look forward to working with them in 2015/16, the final season of their title sponsorship."
However, the Premier League will lose quite some money in the short term as Barclays paid £120million for their existing three-year deal that was signed in 2012.
Interestingly, as Spanish bank Liga BBVA will also not remain main sponsor for the Spanish 1st and 2nd division from the 2016-17 season, the Italian Serie A will be likely the only Top 5 league to have a main sponsor after the deal was extended until 2018 earlier this year.