Private health insurance giant Bupa has renewed its seven-figure sponsorship deal with the Carlton Football Club amid the unfolding lewd photo scandal that has engulfed former president Luke Sayers and thrown into question the club’s and the AFL’s governance of the saga.
Bupa confirmed to this masthead it had renewed its deal with the Graham Wright-led club for a further three years after the original agreement expired at the end of 2025, but declined to disclose the value of the agreement.
“Following careful consideration, including constructive and transparent discussions with Carlton Football Club, Bupa entered into a new three-year sponsorship agreement with the club,” a spokesman for Bupa said.
“We continue to work closely with the current team at Carlton to ensure there is clear alignment with our values and have agreed a way forward that reflects the expectations of Bupa, our people, customers and the community.”
A source close to the renegotiation, but not authorised to comment publicly, said Sayers’ resignation from the club was a critical factor in the company’s willingness to renew, as well as changes in key management personnel at the club.
They said the renegotiation was robust, adding that the fresh sponsorship contract included reputational clauses. Such clauses allow brands or sponsored entities to terminate contracts early if the other party engages in behaviour that causes public disrepute.
The health giant was last year drawn into the Sayers controversy when one of its senior executives was tagged in a post to the businessman’s X account that featured a picture of his penis.
The genesis of the January 2025 post, which was quickly deleted from Sayers’ public account, has become the subject of defamation action taken in the Victorian Supreme Court against him by his estranged wife, Cate Sayers.
The scandal saw the businessman step down as Carlton president, with the club’s actions and governance now in question as the court proceedings unfold.
The original three-year Bupa sponsorship deal was struck in 2023, after the executive tagged in Sayers’ post joined the insurer the year before. The renewal negotiations are understood to have culminated in a fresh deal after the 2025 season.
The source told this masthead that the executive did not play a direct role in the new contract renegotiation, but was aware talks were unfolding and was supportive of a fresh deal.
“The sponsorship helps Bupa promote health and wellbeing to more Australians through one of the country’s most engaged sporting communities,” the Bupa spokesman said. “As with all partnerships, we continue to keep them under regular review to ensure they continue to align with our values and long-term goals.”
In the wake of the Sayers scandal, the health giant’s relationship with Carlton has been choppy. In early 2025, Carlton’s annual Bupa-sponsored Run for Respect event, which raises money and awareness for its flagship community initiative Carlton Respects, was run without Bupa’s backing.
Carlton was last month issued with a subpoena ordering the club to hand over details and copies of all communications with Luke Sayers and others about the explicit photograph, about the post to his X account, and about a statutory declaration provided to the AFL and Carlton as part of their investigations into the matter.
The club’s internal 2025 process – which was led by Christopher Townshend, KC, who has since been appointed to the club’s board of directors – ran in parallel to the AFL’s investigation that ultimately cleared Sayers of wrongdoing.
In her submission to the Supreme Court, Cate Sayers questioned how Carlton conducted its investigation and the wider governance of the club.
Carlton’s response to the May 13 subpoena was due on May 27; however, the club was given an extension to June 6. It remains unclear whether the club has now produced documents in response to the subpoena.
Carlton did not respond to calls concerning the new Bupa deal.
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