Football clubs and egaming operators: a match made in heaven?
Betting operators have rushed to sign betting partnerships with football clubs, hoping to benefit from the game's mass global exposure
The new English Premier League football season kicks off at midday tomorrow, a moment online gambling operators have been awaiting for weeks and not just so the bets come flooding in.
Seeking to benefit from the mass exposure the English top flight receives both domestically and internationally, gaming companies from as far afield as China have been quick to seal betting partnerships with football clubs as a form of advertising.
Asian operators in particular will be in the spotlight during this year’s Premier League season as they look to increase their brand exposure, with English football increasingly popular on the Asian continent.
Bodog announced a multi-million pound betting partnership with Arsenal earlier this week, with the Phillippines-based operator highlighting Arsenal’s fan base in the region as a key source of future growth. SBOBet has tied up betting partnerships with both Swansea City and Norwich City, with the Asian operator supporting the clubs’ charity work.
And TLC88.com became the latest Asian operator to sign up with a Premier League club, revealing today it has signed as West Bromwich Albion’s “platinum gaming partner”.
Other operators to clinch deals with English Premier League clubs include 138.com and 188Bet, who have penned agreements with Newcastle United and Manchester City respectively.
Meanwhile, bwin.party has undertaken a very different tact, complementing its existing betting partnerships with European giants Manchester United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich by signing deals with other leading clubs. This summer, the operator has agreed deals with Ligue Un club Marseille, reigning Serie A champions Juventus and Belgian Pro League champions RSC Anderlecht.
Perhaps the most outlandish collaboration of a football club and a betting operator is Paddy Power’s sponsorship agreement with semi-professional club Farnborough FC.
Paddys’ logo will appear on the front of the team’s shirts and the stadium has been renamed Paddy Power Park, however the agreement has also seen the club’s players and management team change their names by deed poll to match those of football legends such as Zinedine Zidane and George Best.
Although betting partnerships with professional football clubs are hardly new, the sheer number of new deals agreed this close season would intimate that such agreements are not only here to stay, but could become increasingly common.