William Hill signs landmark deal with Football Association
Bookmaker becomes first betting company to use England football team branding and image rights across its products " also official betting partner of the FA Cup.
William Hill has become the first gambling company to sign a deal with the Football Association allowing it to use the national team’s branding and player image rights across various online and offline products in exchange for a revenue share agreement.
In a two and half year deal, and following in the footsteps of fast food chain McDonalds, the bookmaker will become the FA’s official England supporter as well as the official betting partner for the FA Cup with third round games being played this weekend.
A spokesman told eGaming Review that the deal involved a “significant” undisclosed initial sum, while in exchange for brand and image rights the FA would receive a revenue share from William Hill’s associated England and FA branded products.
The agreement features a “wide and unique range of image rights, advertising and promotional opportunities”, a statement released this afternoon read.
Kristof Fahy, chief marketing officer for William Hill described the deal “excellent for both parties”. “It gives us some very good opportunities to develop our brand across a wide variety of channels. The England and FA Cup branding and imagery will enable williamhill.com to promote its services and products that we can offer to our casino, games, sportsbook, bingo and poker customers.”
The deal comes less than six months before the beginning of the European Football Championships in Ukraine and Poland with England drawn against the hosts, Sweden and France in Group D, while William Hill will also benefit from being associated with the England set up should they qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2014.
William Hill has gone on a sponsorship spree in recent times including last year sponsoring the Scottish Cup for three years, the Scottish equivalent to England’s FA Cup, the Grand Slam of darts, the UK snooker championships, the King George VI at Kempton Park, the official partner for the Derby (horse racing), the Ayr Gold Cup, and the Greyhound Derby.
Ralph Topping, chief executive of William Hill, said: “We have been looking for sponsorship opportunities from which we can reward and engage with our customers for the events they most enjoy. This deal with The FA will help us to achieve our objectives of developing the prominence of our brand and increasing market share in all our business channels.
Peter Daire, the FA’s head of sponsorship said he was “delighted” to have William Hill on board. “They have a strong track record in sports sponsorship and a considerable online and high street presence that will enable us to strengthen our communication platforms for England and The FA Cup. In return, William Hill will benefit from an association with two of the highest-profile football sponsorship properties in the world.”
(Photo credit: Martin Pettit)