Liverpool has confirmed that Turkish Airlines will become its main club partner from 1 June 2027, ending a relationship with Standard Chartered that has run since 2010.
The airline’s branding will appear on the front of the men’s, women’s and Academy shirts from the start of the 2027/28 season.
It is the first change to the front of the Liverpool shirt in 17 years, and it hands the Turkish flag carrier one of the most visible advertising positions in world sport.
Liverpool Ends Its Longest Running Shirt Partnership
Standard Chartered remains in place for the whole of the 2026/27 season before stepping back into a global partner role from 2027/28.
Liverpool has framed the change as a transition rather than a split, and the bank stays inside the club’s commercial portfolio.
Turkish Airlines becomes only the sixth name to occupy the front of the Liverpool shirt, following Hitachi, Crown Paints, Candy, Carlsberg and Standard Chartered.
Ben Latty, chief commercial officer at Liverpool FC, described the announcement as a milestone and pointed to foundations laid in 2005, the year Liverpool won the Champions League final in Istanbul.
Turkish Airlines chief executive Ahmet Olmuştur said the carrier’s name would take its place on one of the most iconic shirts in world sport, and framed the deal as a meeting of two brands with genuinely global reach.
What Liverpool Earns From the Agreement
Neither party published a figure.
The BBC reported a five year term worth £300 million in total, and The Times put the annual figure above £60 million for Liverpool.
That compares with a Standard Chartered arrangement understood to be worth roughly £50 million a season.
If those numbers are accurate, this is the most valuable front of shirt only agreement in Premier League history. The caveat matters.
Arsenal and Manchester City earn more from Emirates and Etihad, but those agreements bundle in stadium naming rights, and Anfield keeps its name.
Liverpool’s sleeve deal with Expedia expires at the same point, so the commercial reset is not finished.
Why the Liverpool Shirt Suits Turkish Airlines
For the airline, the logic is distribution.
Turkish Airlines flies to more countries than any other carrier, operating a network of more than 350 destinations across over 130 countries from its Istanbul hub.
Liverpool, meanwhile, reported record revenues above £700 million for its most recent financial year and topped the Premier League section of the Deloitte Football Money League, with a supporter base the club says spans every continent.
The fit is unusually clean.
Airlines buy football shirts because shirts travel, and a Liverpool shirt shows up in exactly the markets Turkish Airlines is either strong in already or actively growing into, from Southeast Asia to West Africa to Latin America.
The timing matches the fleet plan.
Turkish Airlines holds orders for close to 420 aircraft across Airbus and Boeing, and chief executive Ahmet Olmuştur has restated a 2033 target of more than 800 aircraft, revenues above $50 billion and 345 international destinations.
Ultra long range jets arriving from late 2027 will open nonstop flying to Australia and parts of South America.
The sponsorship starts in the same window, giving the carrier a global billboard precisely as it launches routes that need one.
Filling a Gap in the Sponsorship Portfolio
Turkish Airlines has been without its flagship sports property for over a year.
Euroleague Basketball ended a 15 year naming rights deal with the airline in July 2025 and rebranded as a single EuroLeague identity, removing a platform the carrier had held since 2010.
The airline still sponsors the UEFA Champions League, a deal signed in 2022 that made it the first airline to back the competition.
A Premier League shirt is a different proposition. Competition sponsorship places the name beside many others. A shirt is owned outright and worn every week.
The Wider Airline Sponsorship Race
Gulf carriers have dominated football shirts for two decades, with Emirates at Arsenal and Real Madrid and Etihad at Manchester City.
Turkish Airlines has largely stayed out of that particular contest, favouring competitions and individual athletes instead, but have now made the switch with Liverpool.
That changes now, and it changes at a scale that puts the carrier alongside its Gulf rivals rather than behind them.
The Türkiye Wealth Fund remains the largest shareholder with just over 49 percent, so the deal also functions as national branding for Türkiye at a moment when the country is pushing hard on inbound tourism.
What Happens Next
Liverpool plays the coming season in Standard Chartered colours, and the Turkish Airlines shirt arrives in summer 2027.
Expect activation to follow quickly.
An airline that has just committed a reported £300 million rarely waits two years to start using the asset, so route launches, competition tie ins and supporter offers should surface long before the first shirt is sold.
Continue to follow The Aviation Hub for more analysis and insight!
