Online betting operators continue to scramble to secure high-profile football sponsorships as yet another season dawns.
On Monday, bookmaker William Hill announced a two-year deal to serve as the Official European Betting Partner of English Premier League side Everton FC. Hills takes over from UK rivals Coral, whose two-year Everton deal expired at the end of the 2015-16 campaign.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Everton called it the club’s “highest ever value betting partner deal.” In exchange for that outlay, Hills will receive brand exposure via LED screens in the club’s Goodison Park stadium and on interview backdrops.
One tier down from the EPL, Turkish-facing online betting operator Tempobet recently signed a shirt deal with newly promoted UK Championship side Burton Albion FC. The deal is said to be the largest in the club’s history.
On Monday, Tempobet announced a six-figure advertising deal with Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona. The deal gives Tempobet and its Tempocasino brand 12 minutes of digital billboard access in each of the 36 total away games the teams will play during the upcoming La Liga season, as well as visibility on the clubs’ European TV feed outside Spain.
Sticking with the continent, Italian betting operator Sisal Matchpoint has inked a one-year deal as the official betting partner of reigning Serie A champions Juventus. Terms weren’t disclosed, but Sisal will enjoy in-stadia branding opportunities as well as having access to Juventus stars for marketing and communications purposes.
PREMIER LEAGUE BETTING COMPANY SHIRT DEAL VALUE JUMPS 57%
Kenyan betting operator SportPesa inked a shirt deal with EPL side Hull City last week, which meant fully half of the 20 EPL clubs will have a gambling shirt sponsor in the 2016-17 season, up from seven the previous year.
According to SportingIntelligence.com data, EPL clubs will earn £226.5m from shirt deals in 2016-17, 1.6% more than the previous season and 126% more than they earned in 2010-11. Gambling companies account for £35.2m of this total, up by more than half from the £22.35m the industry’s shirt sponsors contributed in 2015-16.
Dafabet’s deal with Sunderland tied with the Betway-West Ham tandem for the priciest gambling shirt deal at an estimated £6m for the 2016-17 season. Mansion’s Crystal Palace tie-up was third with £5m and BetEast’s Swansea deal ranked fourth at £4m.
The rest of the gambling shirt deals ranked as follows: Bet365-Stoke City (£3.2m), SportPesa-Hull City (£3m), UK-K8.com-West Brom (£2.5m), Mansion-Bournemouth (£2m), Dafabet-Burnley (£2m) and 138.com-Watford (£1.5m).
