888sport signs "record-breaking" sponsorship deal
Operator announces major UK horseracing sponsorship deal while new #LastWord campaign targets British, Swedish and Spanish markets
888sport has tied-up a “recording-breaking” horseracing deal to become the headline sponsor of next month’s Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown Park as part of a wider marketing push from the rapidly growing sportsbook brand.
The operator has signed a one-year deal to sponsor the £150,000 Grade 1 race, which is to be called the 888Sport Tingle Creek Chase, while it has also agreed to sponsor the previous race on the 6 December card, the 888sport London National.
The agreement sees 888sport take the reins from last year’s Tingle Creek sponsor BetVictor.
Speaking to eGaming Review, Itai Pazner, head of 888 B2C, described horse racing as an “incredibly important” sport which features within 888sport’s top three betting markets.
“As the [888sport] brand is predominantly UK focused it’s imperative to show our current customers and potentially new customers we have a strong offering in this space,” Pazner said.
“[This deal] opens up avenues to new revenue streams due to the magnitude of this race and sponsorship.
“We had previously focused on the other sports such as football and tennis and now this is a role reversal as we know the recreational horse racing bettors are what we are looking for with a sponsorship like this,” he added.
The deal comes amid a wider advertising push with the operator having recently rolled out a fully-integrated cross-media campaign which is being run on TV, radio and on public transport in the UK, Spain and Sweden – with the latter market said to be currently contributing “immaterial” revenues to the business.
The campaign has been given the tagline #LastWord and challenges customers to put their money where their mouths are by placing a bet and builds upon a Spain-facing campaign launched in early October.
Earlier this month the firm’s Q3 results revealed sportsbook revenues had grown by 83% year-on-year to around $8m. The sportsbook product is powered Kambi Sports Solutions after the pair signed a deal in May 2013.