The EFL Trophy is now the Jersey Mike’s Trophy, another American brand name in English football as U.S. ownership continues to reshape the game. Jersey Mike’s, the New Jersey-based sandwich chain, has signed a five-year title sponsorship agreement with the English Football League, with the new name taking effect immediately and running through the end of the 2030-31 season.
For the record, this is not the EFL Cup. That competition is the Carabao Cup or just plain League Cup, the higher-profile knockout tournament involving Premier League and Championship clubs. The Jersey Mike’s Trophy is the competition formerly known as the Vertu Trophy, contested by all 48 League One and League Two clubs along with 16 invited Premier League Under-21 teams.
EFL Trophy Gets Another Corporate Makeover
The EFL Trophy is hardly a stranger to commercial rebranding. Before becoming the Jersey Mike’s Trophy, it passed through names including the Vertu Trophy, Papa Johns Trophy, Checkatrade Trophy and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. Jersey Mike’s is now the fifth title sponsor in the past seven years, which perhaps says as much about modern English football as the latest name does.
The reported value of the new agreement is around £5 million ($6.7 million) over five years, with participating clubs set to benefit from increased prize money. There is a legitimate upside here. The competition gives League One and League Two clubs one of their best realistic chances to reach Wembley, while also providing valuable senior experience to young players.
So, commercially, it makes sense. Jersey Mike’s gets its name in front of millions of football fans as it prepares to launch in Britain. The EFL gets a significant sponsorship deal and more money flowing toward clubs. Everybody at the negotiating table has reason to smile. The people in the stands, however, might have a somewhat different reaction.
American Influence Is Already Everywhere
There is no shortage of American influence in English football these days. Current ownership tallies have American owners or major U.S. investment involved with 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs, including Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham and Leeds United. The latest count puts the number of majority American owned clubs in The Championship at nine.
Ticket pricing, commercial expansion, private-equity ownership, celebrity investors and the increasing treatment of clubs as global entertainment brands have all fueled a broader unease among portions of the traditional fan base.This does not mean every English supporter dislikes American involvement, and the reasons for criticism vary from club to club. But putting a name like Jersey Mike’s on a football trophy lands right in the middle of that conversation.
Maybe that changes. Football supporters have eventually gotten used to some truly bizarre competition names over the years. The Jersey Mike’s Trophy may one day sound perfectly normal. Or maybe supporters will stubbornly keep calling it the EFL Trophy, the same way they still call plenty of other things by names that officially no longer exist. Either way, the sandwich chain has its name on an English football trophy. And that little fact says something rather large about where the sport is heading.
Full disclosure: I love Jersey Mike’s. Especially compared to Subway. “Mike’s Way” is a perfectly respectable reason to visit a sandwich shop. But even I have to admit that “Jersey Mike’s Trophy” sounds strange attached to English football. Then again, “Papa John’s Trophy”?
Jersey Mike’s Trophy: Another Bite of American Influence on English Football