Ebury signed sponsorship agreements with two European football clubs within two days this week, adding Spain's Real Betis and Belgium's Royal Antwerp FC to a portfolio that already runs from Aston Villa to Botafogo. Neither the London-based payments firm nor the clubs disclosed what either deal is worth.Real Betis named Ebury its Official Transfer Partner under an agreement running from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028, signed in Seville by Luis Merino, general manager of Ebury in Spain, and club chief executive Ramón Alarcón. The Royal Antwerp deal, announced Wednesday, promotes Ebury from banking partner, a role it has held since 2024, to Official Partner through 2028.Signage Going One Way, Treasury Services Going the OtherBoth agreements bundle branding with a commercial services relationship. Ebury gets a presence across Real Betis's digital and physical channels, and at Antwerp it will appear at Bosuil Stadium and on every incoming transfer announcement.In return, the clubs get access to Ebury's international payments and currency hedging products, which the company said will help them manage cross-border transfers, commercial rights income and multi-currency payroll. That is the same structure Ebury used when it became Official FX Partner of Spanish club C.D. Leganés in November 2024.[#highlighted-links#]The Betis agreement also commits both sides to a joint program aimed at businesses in Seville and Andalusia, pitching Ebury's payments and FX products to local companies. Antwerp is offering something similar, with Ebury joining what club partnerships lead Tom Aerts described as "the largest business network in Belgian football."Ebury's Football Numbers Come With No MethodologyEbury said its Sports Finance division now works with six of UEFA's top 50 football clubs and handles transfer-related payments for roughly 10% of Premier League player moves.The declared roster is broader: Aston Villa, Fulham, Rangers, PSV Eindhoven, Parma Calcio 1913, Lech Poznań, FC Copenhagen, AIK and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, plus the Spanish rugby federation. Ebury also holds deals with Brazil's Botafogo and Southampton FC, and moved into basketball last October with Greek side AS Karditsas.Maurits Zwart, co-head of sport at Ebury, said in the Betis announcement that "modern football operates in a global, competitive market."Payments Firms Crowd the Same TouchlineCorpay's cross-border unit renewed its multi-year agreement as official FX payments supplier to SailGP last October, having become New Zealand Football's FX partner in August 2025 and extended its arrangement with West Ham United. Corpay has been supplying SailGP since 2019.In Belgium, Club Brugge signed a five-year deal with cross-border payments firm Neo in August 2025, running to 2030 and covering the club's FX and multi-currency transactions, including transfers, travel and staff payments. Neo had previously worked with Wolverhampton Wanderers on the same basis. Revolut took a different route into the sport, backing Manchester City Women with financial services alongside branding.Retail brokers spend in football and other sports for reach rather than for the client relationship. XTB became a FIBA global partner in April on a deal running to December 2027, and IC Markets has signage arrangements with a dozen LaLiga and Bundesliga clubs. Ebury, Corpay and Neo are all selling the sponsored club a product it will be invoiced for.Listing Plans Are Roughly Where They Were a Year AgoEbury spent much of the past two years preparing a London flotation at a valuation of about £2 billion (about $2.7 billion), with Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Peel Hunt appointed to advise. The listing was shelved in April 2025 amid tariff-driven market volatility, revived with a second-quarter 2026 target, then pushed back again.Sky News reported in May that Centerbridge Partners was in advanced talks to buy a large minority stake, a transaction that would likely delay any flotation by at least another year. Advent International and Cinven were also reported to have looked at the asset. Santander, Ebury and Centerbridge have not commented publicly on the report.Banco Santander bought 50.1% of Ebury for £350 million in 2019 and later increased its holding. The company reported revenue of £286.5 million and EBITDA of £44.9 million for fiscal 2025, and says it operates more than 45 offices across over 30 regulated markets.Regulators Have Started Asking Who Is on the ShirtFinancial sponsorship of football clubs has drawn regulatory attention this year. The Financial Conduct Authority told clubs in May that they should be running checks on crypto and trading-platform sponsors, after a run of deals with firms marketing high-risk products to retail audiences.Ebury's business sits outside that perimeter, since it sells to corporates rather than consumers, though it has been onboarding FX and CFD brokers as clients since December 2023. The wider category is about to get more crowded regardless: the Premier League's ban on front-of-shirt betting sponsorship takes effect from the 2026-27 season, and panelists at Finance Magnates London Summit 2025 argued that fintech brands were already repositioning to bid for the inventory it frees up.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.