A total of 11 EPL clubs now have Asian betting partnerships in place for the coming season, after Manchester City and West Brom announced agreements ahead of the 2013-14 kick-off this weekend.
Last season’s runners up Manchester City have unveiled 188BET as its new Official International Betting Partner. The Asian operator signed a similar two-year deal with Liverpool last year, but no longer appears on their site as a commercial partner, suggesting the deal was ended early.
188BET, which sponsored the shirts of then-EPL clubs Wigan and Bolton from 2009-2011, is one of the few Asian operators with EPL sponsorship deals to have actually launched and marketed a UK-facing website, offering casino, poker and financials as well as sports betting.
The deal will allow 188BET to use City’s crest and player imagery throughout Asian, and also have a presence on the club’s country-specific websites in Malaysia, Thailand, China and Indonesia.
Man City however did not provide an explanation of how 188BET advertising to fans via its websites in Malaysia and China would fit with local laws and regulations which clearly criminalise online gambling. 188BET targets such markets remotely from the Philippines, where it is licensed and the activity is legal.
The club’s chief commercial and operating Officer Tom Glick said club looked forward to “helping [188BET] expand their operations, particularly throughout South East Asia.”
West Brom also announced TLC88 had signed on as its Platinum gaming partner, with the club’s head of corporate sales Iain Wain, heralding the deal as a “further measure of the strengthening of the global reach” of the Midlands club. TLC88 resumes the mantle from Dafabet, now the main club sponsor of Aston Villa.
The deals come hard on the heels of Arsenal announcing a similar with Bodog, meaning 11 EPL clubs now have Asian betting partnerships – four of these with SBObet - with Dafabet appearing on the shirts of Aston Villa. Stoke City’s shirt sponsor Bet365 also generates a large but undisclosed slice of its revenues from the region.
West Ham has an unbeatable four official betting partnerships - Asian (SBObet), In-stadia (Sportingbet), European (Bet365) and Injury Time (BetVictor).
Asian-facing operators with EPL sponsorships - all of which hold second licenses in the Isle of Man - use these to raise brand awareness and stimulate betting activity around TV coverage of the league in their home markets, very few actually choosing to target UK consumers via the sponsorships.
Article written by Peter Holmes
