Kenyan online betting operator SportPesa has signed on as the new official betting partner of English Premier League side Southampton FC.
On Wednesday, SportPesa announced that it had signed a “multi-million pound three-year deal” with Southampton that will take effect in the 2016-17 EPL season. The deal comes just days after SportPesa inked a shirt deal with the EPL’s Hull City FC.
Terms were not disclosed but Southampton CEO Gareth Rogers called it “by far our biggest partnership in this sector in the club’s history and one of our largest partnership deals to date.”
Neither the club nor the betting operator revealed specifically what material benefits SportPesa will enjoy via the partnership, but these types of deals generally allow the operator ample branding opportunities both inside the team’s home stadium and via digital channels.
But the deal will also see Southampton send its Football Development & Support staff to Kenya to help nurture the next generation of local footballers. Promising Kenyan players will also have the opportunity to make the trip to Southampton’s Staplewood Campus for a firsthand glimpse of the demands facing EPL footballers, such as whether to drive the Porsche or the Lotus to work.
SportPesa is the title sponsor of Kenya’s Premier League and the company says its UK signings are steps toward helping Kenya qualify for its first ever spot in the FIFA World Cup by 2022.
SportPesa’s more immediate goal is to build the visibility of its brand ahead of the August launch of its UK Gambling Commission-licensed site, which will operate via a TGP Europe platform.
LADBROKES HUMORS POLITICIANS PLAYING AT ATHLETICS
Meanwhile, bookmakers Ladbrokes have signed on as main sponsor of the Political Animals RLFC, a rugby league club consisting of UK parliamentarians, peers and councilors. Club captain Greg Mulholland, aka the MP for Leeds North West, said Lads assistance “will allow us to do our bit to promote the sport.”
‘Sport’ may be taking things a bit far, as (sadly) the pols don’t actually plan to risk losing any teeth or breaking any bones during the inaugural non-contact Parliamentary Touch tournament on Sept. 7. A couple of rugby “legends” will be in attendance, trying to mask their disgust at this milquetoast version of the game they love.
