William Hill bags La Vuelta cycle sponsorship deal

WILLIAM HILL Online (WHO) will be one of the official sponsors of the 2009 La Vuelta, the Spanish bicyle tour, one of the world’s three major tours alongside the Tour De France and Giro in Italy.

The bookmaker will be one the top three sponsors of the race and the sole sponsor of the Green Jersey overall sprint classification competition. It will also sponsor the signature points, where riders sign in daily for the race.

WHO Spanish territory manager Ricardo Carioni said: “The coverage of La Vuelta is far reaching, and provides for strong brand visibility across multiple TV networks right across Europe for three solid weeks.”

The Vuelta sponsorship is part of WHO’s ongoing brand building exercise in European markets.

As part of this, the company is also understood to be close to announcing a shirt sponsorship with a football team in Spain’s Primera Liga top football league this month.

WilliamHill.com did not disclose the sum it paid in the Vuelta deal, but a spokesman said it represented excellent value for money for the three week media exposure the race will provide compared to events such as a grade one horse race in Britain.

The Vuelta starts from Assen in the Netherlands on 29 August and culminates in Madrid on 20 September, and is organised by UniPublic.

The deal marks the first time that an online gambling company has been allowed to sponsor one of the Classic. As reported on EGRmagazine.com, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), organiser of the Tour de France and other major cycling races in France, prevented a Unibet-sponsored team from wearing the Unibet logo in the 2007 Tour, saying that French legislation prevents foreign betting operators from advertising their services.

In other compnay news this week, William Hill’s casino site is now the third most visible among UK web-users, new research revealed.