Betfair have ended their sponsorship agreement with European and Spanish football champions, FC Barcelona. The deal ran for 2 years in which Betfair were Barcelona’s online gaming partner but the gaming company have terminated the deal following a marketing strategy review.
Alasdair Wright, who joined Betfair as Global Head of Customer Marketing and Loyalty a couple of months ago, has implemented the new strategy. Wright has previously worked at BSkyB as Head of Marketing and Strategy and Head of Customer Marketing at AOL.
As a result of the new strategy, Betfair has added Lee Dixon as a sports ambassador alongside former rugby player Will Greenwood, cricketer Michael Vaughan and horse trainer Paul Nicholls. The 4 ambassadors will be present on Betfair advertising and give tips and views and well as feature on podcasts and videos.
Betfair are currently the official betting partner of Manchester United and agreed to sponsor German club Türkiyemspor recently. Betfair’s recent cancellation of their deal with Barcelona is contrary to the trend in the online gaming industry.
Wigan Athletic signed a shirt deal with 12Bet recently whilst BetDaq became the online betting partner of Celtic FC. Bodog Europe announced a shirt sponsor deal with West Bromwich Albion. Genting Casinos became the Aston Villa shirt sponsor as well as 32Red continuing their shirt sponsorship with Swansea City back in May.