In recent years, the casino industry and football have become closely intertwined, forming a mutual relationship that has launched both parties into further success. The online casino industry is anticipated to be valued at more than $92 billion dollars by 2024, indicating the industry’s rapid growth and significant wealth it’s managed to generate thanks to the digital revolution.
This wealth is now being funneled into the football industry to support local and regional football clubs across the UK, Europe and wider afar. In exchange, football clubs are utilizing their extensive global reach to help promote online casino providers like VirginGames.
Below, we’ll take a look at some of the ways that football clubs and some of the top online casinos have formed mutual relationships.
Advertising
Online casinos are utilising airtime on channels including television, radio and social media before and after games to promote their services to a wider audience. This tactic has been helping to increase brand awareness while raising awareness of sports betting and other relevant football related games to a prime target audience.
However, in recent years, the UK Advertising Standards Agency has enforced a crack down on online casino advertising linked to football. This was amid concerns that children, young people and problem players were being exposed to such ads. Sponsors like Betway and SkyBet have been incredibly successful in launching such ads, although both have agreed to scale back on ads in line with new regulations.
Sponsorship
According to data, around half of the UK’s Premier League clubs have a casino sponsor on their t-shirt. In addition to sponsoring players t-shirts, casinos can also sponsor stands or entire stadiums. This way of advertising allows the online casinos logos to be broadcast to a global audience, even when not featuring in advertisements.
A recent study by Goldsmiths University of London recently revealed that online casinos are getting as much as between 71 and 89% of screen time in a televised game. With a fanbase across the world, football clubs are able to help online casino brands reach people who are not yet online casino players or who may not have heard of that particular provider in their home country.
However, it’s not only online casinos that are benefitting from such partnerships but football clubs are also benefitting significantly too. While football clubs often have a global fanbase and reach across the world, local and regional clubs often lack the funds needed to conduct certain projects withing grassroots communities.
As such, this extra funding not only increases the annual profits of football clubs but helps them participate in and fund a number of grassroots community projects, such as running football academies for young talent.
Exclusive partnerships
While restrictions are tightening around how online casino brands can work with football clubs, particularly when it comes to advertising, casinos and football clubs are finding new and creative ways to continue their relationship.
For example, online betting provider William Hill has recently partnered with Tottenham Hotspurs, providing exclusive fast Wi-Fi to fans at the club. The only catch is that while using the Wi-Fi, fans are not able to access the sites of any William Hill competitors; a clever marketing move on their part.
VIP Schemes
We’re also seeing a number of VIP schemes pop up, whereby frequent online casino customers are offered football perks like free matchday tickets or the chance to win free flights and accommodation to an away game.
Such VIP schemes are also closely monitored by the FDA and Advertising Standards Agency to ensure that problem players are not targeted, however these schemes have become widely successful and benefit both football fans and online casino players.
Global Reach
Many markets across the world have been difficult to access for online casinos. More conservative countries like China do not allow casino advertisements or operations in their country, therefore it has up until now been impossible for casino providers to reach such an audience.
However, by using football, online casinos providers can subtly introduce their brand to people in countries where gambling advertisements are not allowed, encouraging them to explore the option of an offshore gambling site.
Countries across Asia and Africa have been particularly susceptible to such operations, helping to nurture a customer base that’s never before been tapped into.
What is the impact of the Partnership Between Casino Companies & Football on the Younger Generation?
However, it is essential to note that the growing bonding between football and gambling might have dire consequences. Because of the rigorous engagement of gambling organizations or casinos in football matches, the young generation is associating their backing for the sport with betting. It has shown some terrible results.
The rise in marketing and sponsorship between the two merged with the relief of digital staking has ruined the sport. Some people have shared that they cannot enjoy watching football matches without having several gambles. In other words, now all their talks are related to gambling rather than the sport.
There exists another major disadvantage of the exclusive partnership, relating to the growing addiction to gambling. Earlier, people used to watch the match as a recreational or pastime activity. But today, it has become a way of making more money.
Since the marketing of gambling organizations is so intriguing, mainly because of their free bets offers, more and more people are staking their money on it. They are risking real money for the sake of enjoyment. This practice is becoming common because the losses incurred on free bets doesn’t feel like losing money.
Just like any gambling, this partnership harms people with a family. It is happening because they turn to terrible ways to recoup the lost money. It is felt that betting has taken over their lives as now they can sit in front of their smartphone, continuously betting throughout the day.
Since gambling organizations are gaining recognition via sponsorship, advertising, and marketing, it has become easier to gain access. Once you’re subscribed to betting, you will receive continuous prompts in between matches along with marketing offers. So, it has become challenging for people to steer clear of associating healthy football matches with betting.
In simpler terms, the association of the two worlds has hitched the immature people into a rushed sports era in which the casually betting of funds is vital to enjoying the game. No matter how enjoyable it is to gamble, it is slowly ruining the essence of a sport because you cannot watch football without continuously thinking how much to risk next.
However, it is essential to note that sponsorship has been used as a marketing tool in football for a very long time. This space is dominated by the alcohol and tobacco industries. But in the wake of the rising moral issues, they have been replaced by gambling.
Besides, football clubs require sturdy financial support to become successful. That’s where gambling sponsors enter by investing chunks of money in the clubs to help improve their training facilities, build stadiums, and assist the players and the local community financially at the same time.
You will see that a majority of the football clubs today are running local youth clubs, investing a significant amount of funds. It implies that in the absence of funds that casino companies provide, many of the football clubs in the UK would have to survive on limited funds.
The future of online casinos and football partnerships
There’s no doubt that the relationship between online casinos and football clubs is being strained as authorities and local standards agencies crack down on such activity. However, the online casino sector and football clubs have shown resilience as they continually innovate with new and highly effective ways of leveraging their partnership.
Overall, the nature of online casino and football club partnerships could look very different a decade from now as standards continue to change. We may no longer see logos on players t-shirts or ads of TV around televised matches, however there’s no doubt that this effective mutual relationship will continue long into the future using more innovative methods.