Roma Lose Shirt Sponsor for Champions League Opener

Roma will play their Champions League opener at Fenerbahçe tonight without their usual shirt sponsor, after Turkish gambling advertising rules stopped them from displaying Eurobet.live on the front of their kit. In its place, the club will wear the logo of the United Nations World Food Programme.

The switch turns what could have been an awkward gap on the shirt into a fundraising effort. Roma plan to auction off the match-worn shirts after the game, with the money going toward the WFP's emergency response in Nepal, where floods and landslides have left around 43,000 people needing urgent help.

Why The Usual Sponsor Can't Appear

Eurobet.live only became Roma's shirt sponsor in March, on a deal that runs through the end of the 2028/29 season. Reports in Italy have valued the agreement at somewhere between 13 and 14 million euros a year, with that figure potentially climbing to 16 million with bonuses, and close to 50 million euros across the full length of the deal.

Even in Italy, the sponsorship needed careful handling. Strict rules on gambling advertising there meant Roma had to use the Eurobet.live sports-information brand rather than the bookmaker's main Eurobet name.

That workaround doesn't hold up in Turkey, though. Turkish authorities have cracked down on illegal and unauthorised gambling ads, with new restrictions coming into force from August 1, alongside separate rules covering betting promotion during live broadcasts. As a result, Eurobet.live won't get any exposure on one of Roma's biggest European nights of the year, though there's no indication the club will lose any sponsorship money or face a penalty because of it.

A Meaningful Stand-In

The WFP branding gives Roma a way to use the space for something worthwhile rather than leaving it blank. It also adds extra significance to a match that already means a lot for the club, marking Roma's first appearance in the Champions League in seven years.

Gian Piero Gasperini's side kick off their league-phase campaign this evening at Fenerbahçe's Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, with their regular 50 million euro shirt partner staying behind on home soil for the night.