XTB signed Olympique Lyonnais as a main partner today (Tuesday), putting its logo on the French club's shirts for the next three seasons. Neither side disclosed what the Polish broker is paying.
Lyon is the third European football club XTB has signed since April. XTB announced a three-year sleeve sponsorship with FC Porto on Friday.
Napoli came first, in April, on a two-year global trading partnership.
XTB spent PLN 435.5 million (about $117 million) on marketing in the first half of 2026, up 64.7% from PLN 264.4 million a year earlier. That is three quarters of the marketing bill for all of 2025.
"We want to become the leader and the most popular investment app in France," said Szymon Szymański, XTB's chief growth officer, in a statement.
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XTB Did Not Say Where Its Logo Will Sit
XTB described itself as a main partner with branding on the shirts and did not specify the position. Emirates is Lyon's front-of-shirt sponsor under an extension announced in April 2025 that runs through the 2029/30 season.
At Porto, XTB took the sleeve. Its Lyon package also covers LED boards at Groupama Stadium across all competitions, digital campaigns using player images and financial education programs, the broker said.
Both sides said the deal will carry financial education and responsible investing programs. XTB did not describe their format, reach or cost.
Lyon won seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles between 2002 and 2008, a record in the French league, and has reached the Champions League semi-finals twice.
"XTB's decision to commit to three seasons confirms the strength of the OL brand," said Thibaut Chatelard, senior vice president of revenue and marketing at Olympique Lyonnais.
Brokers Are Back on Football Shirts
HFM became an Official Global Partner of Arsenal in March, with matchday branding at the Emirates Stadium and access to the club's media platform.
WeTrade signed a multi-year marketing deal with the Houston Rockets. CFI Financial Group went to Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena in July 2025, and IG Group to Japan's Aichi International Arena in early 2024.
XTB's own roster runs past football. It is a FIBA global partner covering the 2026 and 2027 Basketball World Cups, and it sponsors the KSW and Oktagon MMA promotions.
In March XTB signed Paris La Defense Arena, Europe's largest indoor venue. It opened French PEA tax-advantaged accounts in April 2025, aiming at a pool of more than 7 million active holders, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is its brand ambassador.
CFDs Pay for the Investment App
XTB sells itself as an investment app, and that is what new clients open first. Shares, ETFs and Investment Plans accounted for 82.9% of first transactions by new EU clients in the first half.
The revenue comes from somewhere else. CFDs generated PLN 1.98 billion of XTB's PLN 2.07 billion gross result from financial instruments over the same period, with commodity CFDs alone at 75.3% of the total.
France restricts how leveraged products can be sold. The AMF bans electronic advertising for high-risk instruments and prohibits trading incentives under the Sapin II law.
FinanceMagnates.com estimated the French market holds up to 12,000 active CFD accounts, against a client base XTB says grew 50% there last year.
Heavier marketing has already cost XTB a year of earnings. Net profit fell 24.8% in 2025 to PLN 644.2 million as the marketing line rose almost 70% year-over-year.
This year the arithmetic has flipped. Operating revenue rose 79.7% to PLN 2.09 billion in the first half and net profit rose 150.5% to PLN 1.03 billion, both year-over-year.
XTB has told investors marketing spending will rise about 50% this year, then by 30% to 40% a year between 2027 and 2029. It added 703,333 clients in the first half, up 94.5% from a year earlier, and now has 2.83 million.
