The backbone of any football club is the fans. Without the fans, there is no cheering for every goal or the pressure applied to the away team by the singing of the home team’s fans.
The team’s fans invest a lot of time and hard-earned money into their team through ticket sales and the sale of merchandise, from scarves to replica jerseys and other activities run by the football club. All of the funds raised go into paying wages and keeping the team afloat, but this isn’t enough.
As teams become more successful, they require more financial support to cover travel to bigger tournaments and more money to attract the best players to help the team win. Team owners know that their clubs need another form of income, which comes through sponsorship.
Where Does Football Sponsorship Come From?
Many of the football clubs in the top tier leagues worldwide have more than one sponsor for their team. Each team usually has a deal with a kit manufacturer who becomes the official kit maker for that team.
Arsenal FC replaced Puma with Adidas as their kit sponsors from the 2019/2020 season in a more lucrative deal that sees the Gunners receive £60 million per year for the five-year agreement. This is double what the English club was getting from their deal with Puma.
Apart from kit manufacturers, many companies from different industries sponsor football teams, leagues, and tournaments. Banks like Standard Chartered, Airlines like Etihad, and car manufacturers like Hyundai are some examples of companies that add huge financial backing to football teams worldwide.
Many football tournaments are sponsored by gambling companies these days as there are more online casinos and gambling companies that are taking a huge interest in backing sports teams. These sponsorship deals have taken different forms, including shirt advertising deals, advertising during games on the pitch’s boards, and some include renaming stadiums.
A prime example of this is Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium which changed its name to the Bet365 Stadium. Getafe and Athletic Club in Spain are other more notable teams that carry betting companies’ logos in and around their football club. In the past, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in Germany have had different deals with Australia’s Bwin Interactive Entertainment.
What’s in it for Online Casinos and Betting Companies?
Advertising on a football match that lasts 90 minutes brings a lot of exposure for the company and its products and services. Whether your company’s logo is on the shirt or an advertising board in the stadium, the amount of business gained from this exposure is immense.
Betting companies have been given added advantage and impetus in their involvement in sport by the:
- Ban of tobacco in football sponsorship
- Ban on advertising by alcohol producers
This reduction in direct sponsorship by the aforementioned industries has left a gap in the sports advertising marketplace that betting companies are filling.
Online casinos and betting companies have the funds, and the football teams need the funds to buy the best players and compete for trophies and better league positions. The fans want to see their teams succeed and have all the bragging rights too. It is a win-win partnership for all involved.
In 2018, 26 teams from England’s top two leagues racked in an estimated £225.2 million in revenue from betting companies. Many online casinos offer sports betting services, and football is one of the most bet on sports worldwide. Therefore, it makes more financial sense for the betting companies to advertise directly to their target audience.
Cash Cows
Online casinos are making waves as sports sponsors because they are incredibly liquid businesses. What makes them so liquid? One thing about online casinos is they are open all day and all night for all seven days of the week.
They can also offer their services to more players by granting accessibility to a lot more countries worldwide. Its popularity has been growing in the last five years, thanks in large to advances in technology and online casino platforms.
This makes online casinos the cash cows they are, and football has been one of the main beneficiaries of their increased revenue streams.
