The Wall Street Journal has published some results that for the most part should come as no surprise to online gambling operators. There are two sectors that are dominating jersey sponsorships in several major sports, banking and gambling.
It’s natural of online gambling operators to associate themselves with sports teams, it’s great advertising and exposure for the operator and hell, those jersey’s look great especially when it’s your company’s name on the front. The domination of jersey sponsorship can be in part attributed to the liberalization of the French gambling market, said Gareth Moore, a director for Sport+Markt.
Sponsorship of sports teams has always been a valuable branding strategy. The teams come equipped with an established fan base, television coverage and typically a website. BetClic ranks third among the throng of new brands fighting to enter the football market with €20 million paid for jersey sponsorship deals with Juventus FC, Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique Marseille. Online gambling operators like BetClic Enterprises Ltd and Bwin have successfully used their sports team sponsorship deals to differentiate their brand and others like Victor Apuestas have followed suit to stand out in highly competitive markets. In Canada, Bodog welcomed the country’s national pastime with open arms with its sponsorship of the NHL team, the Edmonton Oilers.
The domination of online gambling sponsorship is significant, this season alone, seven of the twenty clubs in the English Premier League have jerseys emblazoned with the names of online betting companies and that number may be on the rise across the board as law changes favorable to online gambling continue to emerge.
This trend is yet another reason why industry professionals and online gaming operators will be flocking to the Sport & iGaming Conference at the international law firm Pinsent Masons LLP in London on November 10th.
