Major online gambling presence in English football

International sports betting companies – many of them with online divisions – are playing an increasing role in English football sponsorship deals, with ten industry companies involved in football club relationships this year – up on the seven who inked deals last year.

Reporting on the phenomenon, the publication Ghana Soccernet says that Ghanaian sports betting firms are following the English example and teaming up with local football clubs like Kotoko and AshGold. With ten sports betting companies now active in the Ghanaian market, this nascent niche industry is set to thrive, the publication opines.

On the English scene, Betfair was one of the first companies to dip its toe into the sponsorship water, signing with Fulham 15 years ago. The pace of industry involvement quickened with the reforms in the 2005 Gambling Act, which freed up television advertising and brand exposure possibilities on the football scene.

Among the more recent sponsorship deals are the following:

Hull City and Kenyan sports betting operator SportPesa, which is a multi-million pound arrangement;

West Bromwich Albion and Gamma Growth Inc’s Chinese-facing online casino UK-K8;

Both Sunderland and Burnley have multi-million pound sterling agreements with online casino Dafabet;

West Ham United is in a GBP 6 million partnership with online casino and sports operator Betway;

Swansea and BetEast have agreed an annual GBP 5 million partnership;

Crystal Palace also benefits by millions of pounds from an agreement with online and land gambling group Mansion, which has also signed with Bournemouth;

Stoke City has a contract with arguably the world’s biggest online gambling operator, Bet365 to the tune of several millions annually;

Watford and online sports betting operator 138.com have a partnership worth around GBP 1 million a year;

Manchester United have signed with Marathonbet in addition to their massive GBP 53 million a year main sponsorship with General Motors-Chevrolet;