Sponsorship in football is almost as vital to the sport as having a ball to play with. In addition to helping advertise a specific brand, it allows clubs to purchase better players and kits for their members to wear while playing.
The first-ever sponsorship recorded occurred in 1974 when Talbot sponsored the Coventry City football club jerseys. Since then, sponsored clubs have become a regular part of the sport, and now almost every team has a list of companies endorsing them.
Unsurprisingly, one industry that got in on this action early is casinos and gambling institutions. Unlike alcohol and tobacco, casinos are legally allowed to sponsor football clubs and have made the most of it.
This article will look at the biggest football clubs with casino sponsorship behind them. These clubs rake in millions yearly in support from these organisations and help them attain better players and newer equipment.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (commonly known simply as Real Madrid) is one of the most prominent Spanish football clubs in existence. Founded in 1902, the club was rated as the most valuable football club in 2015. It is also the holder of the most European cup wins by any team, securing its 14th victory in 2022.
Casinos have long been amongst those who sponsor the club. The Spanish-based Codere is the most significant contributor to the club. The sponsorship deal held with Codere began in 2017 and was extended until 2026 after talks about the partnership concluded in 2021.
Other casino and sportsbook sponsors of the club are SportyBet (an African sportsbook maker) and KOK Sports (a sports betting provider based in Asia). Other club sponsors come from various industries and include brands like Emirates and PlayStation.
In 2021, the club also signed a sponsorship agreement with Russian-based gambling company Fonbet. The company, which is also known as a sponsor of AC Milan, is said to have around €1 million of sponsorship that was being directed to Real Madrid.
However, in 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the club decided to review their agreement with Fonbet. Ultimately, the contract between the two was cancelled, and Fonbet stopped being listed as an official sponsor.
AC Milan
AC Milan, officially named Associazione Calcio Milan, was founded in 1899. Since then, the club has been known as the top team in Italy and has a massive following worldwide, particularly in Asian markets.
The club was one of the first European clubs to accept sponsors for its jerseys and set the trend for other Italian clubs. It also made significant news in 2006 when it signed a deal with Bwin that made the popular online casino the first casino sponsor in the country. It also broke records due to the sponsorship amount of the agreement; the final figure is unknown.
In 2019, the club focused more on Asian sponsors and signed a deal with VWin, an Asian online casino. This multi-year contract was signed simultaneously as a single-season sponsorship with Starcasinò.sport. This deal again showed the club’s willingness to work with online casinos.
As of 2022, the biggest casino sponsor held by the club belongs to M88 Mansion. This Asian-based casino signed a deal to sponsor the club and produce several AC Milan-themed games for its online platform. This coincided again with another agreement between Swedish online casino Betsson that was finalised the same year.
Everton
Based in Liverpool, Everton was founded in 1878. Today, they are one of the biggest football clubs in the UK and have a massive fanbase that stretches to international countries. The club holds some impressive records, such as 29 division one wins in the 1969/70 football season.
The first significant sponsorship coming from the gambling industry occurred in 2017. The club signed a sponsorship deal with SportPesa, a Kenyan sportsbook operator letting players bet on multiple sporting events. However, due to public pushback about having a sportsbook operator as a sponsor, the club ended the sponsorship deal in 2020.
At the time, the club stated that it ended the contract with SportPesa two years early due to strategic reasons. Alongside this announcement, executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale said that the club would look at other sponsors that aren’t within the gambling sphere.
Two years later, in 2022, the club did the opposite of what it had said and signed a multi-year shirt sponsorship deal with the famed Stake.com. The deal, valued at £10 million, makes Stake.com the largest sponsor that the club has ever had.
West Ham United
Originally founded under the name Thames Ironworks in 1895, West Ham United is one of the biggest football clubs in Europe. The club settled on its current name in 1900 and today has its home stadium based in London.
Even though it has had 17 different managers, West Ham United is slightly different regarding sponsorship. Unlike the other clubs mentioned above, West Ham hasn’t got a long list of casino sponsors that it has held over the years. The only notable mention of sponsorship from any gambling company is the clubs’ affiliation with Betway.
Starting in 2015, Betway became one of the main sponsors of the football club and generated plenty of talk in the industry due to the figure behind the sponsorship deal. While no numbers were ever verified, by the time the sponsorship deal ended in 2019, the club and Betway were eager to renew their contract.
Estimates from the new six-year contract show that the club will receive almost £10 million per year from the famous gambling website. This massive deal remains one of the club’s most significant sponsorships.
Conclusion
Football clubs spend tonnes of money on procuring the best players, having the latest gear, and hiring the most skilled coaches. Thankfully, many great online casinos, like those found on casinosource.co.uk, love to sponsor these clubs.
While regulation in the works may limit how these casinos can sponsor their favourite clubs, nothing is set in stone. And hopefully, these casinos will be able to continue their sponsorships for a long time.
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