Tom Daniels<\/p>\n
The start of the 2020\/2021 European football season, will see a drastic altering in the relationship between football clubs and betting operators.<\/p>\n
Once recognised as the leading marketing channel for targeting betting audiences and amplifying brand exposure, in the era of \u2018responsible gaming\u2019, European operators have had to rethink their sponsorship strategies under heightened regulatory scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the \u2018Future of Sports Sponsorship\u2019 panel at\u00a0SBC Summit Barcelona \u2013 Digital<\/strong>,\u00a0Carmelo Mazza<\/strong>, CEO,\u00a0OIA Services<\/strong>, highlighted that while restrictions are becoming more strict, there is still value in creating sports sponsorships through the use of new techniques to create a brand identity.<\/p>\n Mazza stated: \u201cSo the experience I have is that no matter what the restrictions are, for example in the case of Italy which has tough restrictions, sponsorship keeps remaining very important.<\/p>\n \u201cThe point is that we need to create new ways and leverage on new digital technologies in order to avoid the bad and of course this increases the importance of selecting properly and having long term relationships.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a way, it is part of creating a brand identity that matches with the kind of investment that you do. Selecting very specifically what you want to have gives the opportunity to have high values of sponsorship.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course this opens up the questions about the meaning of such restrictions. Of course, this is a different discussion, but at least I believe that sponsorship value is there also within countries with tough restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, the panel discussed the importance of establishing the correct partnership with a club, with a growing emphasis being placed on brands that use the sponsorship to create a trusted fanbase.\u00a0Dean Akinjobi<\/strong>, CEO,\u00a0Football Media<\/strong>\u00a0discussed that the road shouldn\u2019t stop at signing a deal with a club. Further activations need to be implemented to integrate yourself with the team, creating a relationship with its fans.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that one of the things we find is that even when you\u2019re going into these markets, where you\u2019ve got a global sponsorship, it comes down to how you activate it,\u201d said Akinjobi.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really important to leverage those assets across multiple channels such as fan sites, because most fans don\u2019t spend a huge amount of time on the official website, those fans go to the official website, stay there for a period of time, then recent news and then go to the unofficial channels.<\/p>\n \u201cSome YouTube channels that we work with are have more followers of fans like an actual official website.\u201d<\/p>\n Neill Simpson<\/strong>, Brand Director,\u00a0Mr Green<\/strong>\u00a0agreed: \u201cIn my experience a lot of operators I\u2019ve seen make the mistake of thinking that if an investment is \u2018x\u2019 million, then that\u2019s the sponsorship done and dusted. Whereas actually, your level of investment outside of that is almost more important than the sponsorship money itself.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve done individual sponsorships, boxing events for example, you can maximise those to the hilt and push, whether it be new product launches that you\u2019re doing, expansion in markets, new entry, whatever it might be, you can still make so much out of that by actually leveraging the property that you\u2019ve invested in.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Towse<\/strong>, the head of brand at\u00a0Marathonbet<\/strong>, on the other hand also emphasised that rights holders also need to cooperate with betting sponsors as well, especially if tougher restrictions come in, so that the value of the partnerships remain the same.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cIt is getting harder for the sector but at the same time, I think rights holders are going to have to adapt as well. I don\u2019t think their reliance is fully on gaming companies or brands from other sectors regardless of what they\u2019re promoting. The rights holders need to adapt and help us to be able to drive value from those sponsorships.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you looked at some of the data that was shared last year I think for shirt sponsorship in the Premier League, the gaming sector was paying double what other retail sectors could offer. Now if we do find ourselves in say 5\/10 years, it might even be sooner, then those sponsorships can\u2019t be so overt as what they are now. What are clubs going to be offering in replacement? Or what can we do differently to still drive that awareness of both our brand and our products?\u201d<\/p>\n The panel, which was moderated by\u00a0Martin Calvert<\/strong>, the marketing director\u00a0ICS-digital \u2013 Spotlight Sports Group<\/strong>, concluded discussing other sponsorship avenues, such as athlete and influencer partnerships, that could be considered for operators.\u00a0Nikita Lazarev<\/strong>, Senior Sponsorship Manager,\u00a0Parimatch<\/strong>\u00a0explained that the athlete sponsorship could prove to be a successful strategy for the gaming industry, if the correct person is chosen.<\/p>\n Calvert said: \u201cIt really depends who you partner with and it\u2019s very important that you not just partner with an athlete but some who can spark the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cConor McGregor is a great example in my personal opinion because he always get attention. If he goes on Twitter, he posts something it goes viral. He goes on Instagram and says something, it goes worldwide.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have this opportunity to bring the athletes and do stuff with them, it is very important that you do so.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n