diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d951f3fb9cbad..bf3a4f5db21a4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@
 .tags
 .cache/
 .vscode/
-
+*.cursorrules
+*.cursor
 # Compiled source #
 ###################
 *.a
diff --git a/doc/_templates/pandas_footer.html b/doc/_templates/pandas_footer.html
deleted file mode 100644
index 6d8caa4d6c741..0000000000000
--- a/doc/_templates/pandas_footer.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-<p class="copyright">
-    &copy {{copyright}} pandas via <a href="https://numfocus.org">NumFOCUS, Inc.</a> Hosted by <a href="https://www.ovhcloud.com">OVHcloud</a>.
-</p>
diff --git a/doc/source/_static/css/pandas.css b/doc/source/_static/css/pandas.css
index 1145177898737..1c07679d7bdc9 100644
--- a/doc/source/_static/css/pandas.css
+++ b/doc/source/_static/css/pandas.css
@@ -48,5 +48,12 @@ table {
 }
 
 .card, .card img {
-  background-color: var(--pst-color-background);
+  background: none !important;
+}
+
+/* Footer styling */
+.footer-items__start {
+  flex-direction: row;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.5rem;
 }
diff --git a/doc/source/conf.py b/doc/source/conf.py
index f222a228531ff..93a6869d91a32 100644
--- a/doc/source/conf.py
+++ b/doc/source/conf.py
@@ -163,8 +163,12 @@
 
 # General information about the project.
 project = "pandas"
-# We have our custom "pandas_footer.html" template, using copyright for the current year
-copyright = f"{datetime.now().year},"
+# Updated copyright to include sponsor information, removing custom template
+copyright = (
+    f'{datetime.now().year}, pandas via '
+    '<a href="https://numfocus.org">NumFOCUS, Inc.</a> '
+    'Hosted by <a href="https://www.ovhcloud.com">OVHcloud</a>.'
+)
 
 # The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
 # |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
@@ -242,7 +246,7 @@
 
 html_theme_options = {
     "external_links": [],
-    "footer_start": ["pandas_footer", "sphinx-version"],
+    "footer_start": ["copyright", "sphinx-version"],
     "github_url": "https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas",
     "analytics": {
         "plausible_analytics_domain": "pandas.pydata.org",
diff --git a/doc/source/whatsnew/v3.0.0.rst b/doc/source/whatsnew/v3.0.0.rst
index 977186d808e81..54c3ac537b5d6 100644
--- a/doc/source/whatsnew/v3.0.0.rst
+++ b/doc/source/whatsnew/v3.0.0.rst
@@ -944,6 +944,14 @@ Other
 -
 -
 
+.. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+.. _whatsnew_300.documentation:
+
+Documentation changes
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Simplified pandas theme footer implementation by leveraging built-in templates from pydata-sphinx-theme v0.16 (:issue:`51536`)
+
 .. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 .. _whatsnew_300.contributors: