At many of the gambling industry trade shows, you often hear about the big sponsorship deals that have been signed, and might see a cut out of the new star associated with the brand, but you don’t often get to meet them. Proving he’s a bit more hands on, John Arne Riise, the Norwegian football star, former player for Liverpool, and now Betsson representative, showed up at the recent London Affiliate Conference, and he joined CalvinAyre.com’s Becky Liggero to talk about the experience.
Riise has been sponsored by Betsson, the Swedish gambling site, for several years now, but this is the first time he decided to dive into the conference scene. He explained:
“You know, I’ve been working with Betsson group for seven years now, and last year, I said ‘I want to be more involved with in the business and how they do things, and not just be an ambassador.’ So they invite me to this one, and it’s massive. I enjoy being here. It’s busy, but enjoyable.”
His reasons for getting involved with the operator in the first place were pretty simple. “They contacted me, I wanted to get into the business,” he explained. “I like to play poker, and I just want something different to do.”
He’s not the typical representative, and he doesn’t get the typical conversations either. “First of all, they don’t believe that I’m here,” he told Liggero. “It’s quite unusual, but I like to meet people, and, you know, represent Betsson in the best way. Obviously, loads of them are talking about Liverpool, if you’re going to win it, and all that kind of questions. It’s mostly football questions, but I enjoy it. It’s nice to meet the fans and the people who support your club.”
It looks like he’s pretty happy with his situation, and that’s because of how well he gels with the team, something he knows a lot about. “I just enjoy the people working at Betsson, traveling around, doing the events, meeting new people,” Riise said. “We respect each other, and do a lot of work together, and help each other.”
