iGaming Daily

podcasts (00:00.078)
With the Euros moving into its final stages and England fans fixated on the national team's somehow continued survival throughout the tournament, clubs in the country's domestic scene are preparing for the onset of the 2024 -25 season which kicks off in just a month's time. This has included a sudden upsurge in betting sponsorship deals signed by some prominent clubs in the top flight. On this episode of iGaming Daily, sponsored by Optimove, the insider sport team are going to discuss the context behind these partnerships.

and why both clubs and bookmakers are eager to put pen to paper on some deals. First off though, we'll have a word from our sponsor Optimove. Optimove is the number one CRM marketing solution for the iGaming market. 56 % of the EGR Power 50 personalised player experience is Optimove. To get a free demo, go to www .optimove .com -sbc. I will also leave some links in the description for this episode. So...

Back onto the context of the discussion, I'm Ted -Holme Clay. I'm here in the studio with Callum Williams and Kieran O 'Connor from the inside of the sport team. Before we get into things, lads, how have you been enjoying the football lately? Not very much. It's been awful as an England fan. Yeah, somehow we're in the tournament still, but football quality overall across the tournament has been OK. Not been the greatest, but see if it picks up into life.

sooner rather than later about you, Kieran? Yeah, I mean, I'd say I've been enjoying it. I've been enjoying the fact that I've been enjoying it at the start of the tournament when you've got games on from two, five and eight, all the day really. There's always football on any time you turn the TV on, I've enjoyed that bit. Not the biggest international football fan in general, but there's been some great goals, even though there's been a lot of own goals. So yeah, I've just been really enjoying the content so far.

Yeah, I think like you said, Calum, the overall quality has been pretty good, but I think England are definitely the exception to that, aren't they? Certainly is a fan of them. I've become a bit of a Georgia fan throughout this tournament. I've kind of been rooting for the underdog a bit there and I've got some decent players from like the Italian leagues and stuff, haven't they? Quite entertaining to watch. But yeah, let's ground the conversation, head back to England for the domestic side of things. Have a chat about some of the deals we've seen lately. So...

podcasts (02:19.918)
Who's been partnering with who and sort of how these partnerships differed from one another. Kieran, I know you've covered a few of these, so I'll start with you first. Yeah, so let's start with Net88. So Crystal Palace named the Philippine -based online casino Net88, the men's official front of shirt sponsor for the 2024 -25 season, and they're also gonna sponsor the training kit. That deal was described as a record deal.

not completely shown how much that come to but it was described as a record deal by the club obviously Crystal Palace have got previous with sort of Asian companies back in 2022 they were with W88 then they sort of moved away and partnered with a car retailer and then returned to betting in 2023 with Cajun Sports I believe it's called you've then got another deal with Defbet

That was with Wolverhampton Wanderers. They agreed a two -year sponsorship again to become the team's front of shirt sponsor, which was also described as the biggest in the club's history, the deal was. And they'll also be sponsoring the men's and the women's first team kit and training kit as well. So moving on to Bet MGM, who had a flurry of sponsorships over the past week. So sponsoring, partnering with Wolverhampton Wanderers again.

Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur, Wolves and Newcastle's deals both included pretty much just exposure at the grounds on the LED advertising systems and on their social media brands both well all three of these deals are two -year deals and then Tottenham Hotspur's differed a little bit as they have become the official training work partner of of Spurs Also, that is a three -year agreement. Sorry that one

So yeah, there's been a lot of deals and then just recently I'll just mention this one. There's one with 96 .com who partnered with Burnley, obviously Burnley are in the Premier League this season. That's another one that sort of caught the eye of a lot of people at home and a lot of football fans. There's not really anybody knows much about the operator and they will be the team's official front of shirt sponsor for the next two years as well.

podcasts (04:39.79)
Yeah, it's interesting kind of the makeup of these deals because you've got things like you said about MGM partnering with the spurs of the kit deal. It's quite an interesting one. Obviously, I think they're just sort of looking for what avenues are available because these teams will already have existing front of shirt partners, sleeve partners, anything like that. So it's just seeing where it is. But the training kit one's interesting because I think...

From the outset you might think that's not going to get them as much visibility in front of shirt but I think when you think about social media and stuff like that, you know there's going to be videos of Tottenham players in training and things like that that are quite regular. Pretty much warm up as well. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, stuff like that. So it's still going to get the brand some exposure there and obviously Bet MGM only launched in this country a few months back so I think they're really sort of going hard to get some visibility in the top flight which is the...

the most widely viewed football league, not only in England but outside this country's borders. So obviously Kieran, I noticed something you mentioned a lot was the fact that these are two -year deals. I think that's quite a significant time frame, isn't it? Callum, could you sort of give the listeners, I know this is something we've talked about a lot, but what's the significance of this, the context of it, with the betting side of things, why are bookmakers so keen to get deals signed this season within this two -year time frame? Yeah, so...

In two years time at the end of the 25, 26 years in the front of shirt gambling sponsorship ban is going to take into effect. Now this means that any and all gambling companies betting companies you name it gaming companies they can't be sponsored in front of primarily home shirts in the front of the kit although they are allowed to have sleeve sponsorships which is something that we've seen quite a lot over the last several years or so. So clubs and operators

They're both just making up time really, trying to cash in in this two year period. Yeah, because the band comes in in two years after the 25, 26 season. It's just looking to get more visibility and I'm kind of not surprised that there's a lot of lesser well -known operators like Nite E8 or the Bear with Wolves. It's kind of no surprise that they're coming in just about two years before this band comes into effect because they...

podcasts (06:52.75)
Like you said, the Premier League is the biggest platform in world football, so they're looking to then get as much visibility and much brand exposure as they can before this ban comes into effect. I think clubs are also looking to, because gambling sponsorship really, and typically they've all had the most money to offer for clubs. I mean, like Kieran said, the 1988 deal with Palace is a record deal. The Tibet one with Wolves is a record deal. So for clubs as well.

They've also got to manage their finances a lot more stringently with the profit and sustainability rules coming in. So they're now really trying to look for the most maximum and most optimal sponsorship agreements that they can find. And it's clearly coming from the gambling companies at the moment. So they're in a rush to try and maximise profits, maximise revenue before this gambling bank comes into effect. So it's almost...

Will you scratch our back? Will scratch your type deal between the clubs and the gambling operators? Yeah, I think that's a really important point to make at the end of the PSR. Obviously, we've seen quite a few developments over the past year that have given clubs quite a big motivation to make sure they're on top of their finances and on top of revenue. I mean, Kieran, I know again you've covered some of this for Inside the Sport. Could you sort of give us a bit of a breakdown of that? Why are clubs more than ever?

quite keen to keep an eye on these sort of things? Well, I mean, there's been a lot of talk in recent months and sort of the past season over new PSR changes and rules. And I know that the club that I support, Manchester United, our new minority owner, Sergian Ratcliffe, has been pretty opinionated on some of the new rules they're going to bring in, talk about anchoring, for example, and stuff like that. And he's said in many interviews that at the end of the day,

If you're going to be successful, you need to get the revenue in and this is what these teams are doing it seems. They're not too worried about who they gain it from. They just need the revenue in to sort of balance the books. Talking on that sort of anchoring and the new rules, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm pretty sure at the minute is it 105 million they can spend over three seasons? Across three years, yeah. Across the threshold. So...

podcasts (09:17.006)
this new anchoring is sort of looking to, I suppose, regulate the league a little bit. I think from the league's point of view, they're trying to make it a bit further. You know, it's got teams like Manchester United who generate revenue without these sort of deals through kit sales, ticket sales. They're just big brands across the globe. Where teams like Palace who have got these really, really rich owners.

and he's come out and interviewed and said this himself, one of the Palace owners and said, look, we have probably some of the richest people on our board, but we're not able to use the money because of the restrictions you're putting on us. So yeah, I think it'd be quite interesting. You'll probably see a lot more of these deals in the coming weeks, to be honest with you, especially with teams like Palace. And I'd also be looking at some of the teams that have come up. I mean,

I don't think Leicester have announced a front of kit sponsorship yet, have they? Yeah, I think that's a good point. I don't know if they have yet. And Ipswich as well. So Ipswich and Leicester I'd keep an eye on. I definitely think them two could be two teams joining the likes of Wolves and Palace in sort of acquiring these sort of sponsorship deals. Yeah, Ipswich are an interesting one to mention, because obviously this is them returning to the top flight after quite a long absence. And, you know, we saw that happen with like Luton last year, obviously come up and then struggled.

quite a lot and ended up getting relegated. So yeah, teams like Ipswich might well be thinking how can we really maximise the revenue and getting on all of these sort of opportunities you get from being in the Premier League with it being the most viewed league in England and internationally. And the various companies are going to look to capitalise on that by partnering with clubs that will obviously then provide a good boost to their revenues and hopefully for them.

play a role in keeping them up. So I think that's quite a significant one to mention. I think it's also interesting to note that I think so far with the two clubs last year that got impacted the most arguably by the PSR rules are obviously Everton and Nottingham Forest, weren't they? You've got the points deductions. Neither of them have announced any deals yet, but obviously Forest is partnered with K -Un Sports, who you mentioned earlier, have had previous dealings in the league. And Everton, are Everton still partnered with Stake?

podcasts (11:37.582)
I think they're entering the final year of the deal with stage. You don't quote me on that, but I think that's what it is. I feel like it's a bit more long running, isn't it? So they've both got these existing revenue streams coming in anyway. But yeah, they're the two examples I think a lot of clubs are going to be looking to, aren't they? They're thinking we don't want to end up like Forrest Neven who's overspent to keep themselves in a good position. Well, the funny thing about that is as well, like you said, Kieran said, the bigger clubs aren't

too fussed because they're going to generate revenue no matter what. I mean Chelsea, I think Chelsea didn't have a front of shirt sponsor last season for the first game until they finally got one towards the middle of August. So I think they just have the backing on their side. Whereas you look at a Wolves and a Palace out, I mean, they're not small, small clubs. They're like, we're table decently sized teams, but it's impacting their finances. Now I think anyone outside the so -called big sex, I think they're looking to generate and maximise revenues because

I mean, it comes back down to the PSR rules and it comes down to the fact that they are quite stringent and there's a need to rehaul them. And so we'll see what the anchoring, I know they're doing a shadow, they're doing like a shadow trial run this season, in terms of a cap and then the anchoring system as well that Kieran mentioned. And I think they're trying that out for this season before it comes into effect in a literal sense, maybe next season or the season after that.

And then these deals, obviously the connection between sports and betting has been getting a lot of scrutiny, I think is a good way to describe it over recent years within sort of the context of that Gambonat review white paper that went on for about two and a half years. There's been a lot of sort of public concerns about the visibility of betting, how obviously the Premier League has quite a young following among a lot of children and betting is obviously an age restricted activity. So with this sort of upsurge in deals lately,

How much of a reaction have we seen to these? Is there any way we can kind of judge the prevailing public opinion about these betting sponsorships? Sort of speaking on that, I think obviously a lot of these operators and a lot of these betting brands that we've sort of named in the run through that I give, they're not, let's say, they're lesser known in the UK. Obviously that could be seen as the operators trying to gain visibility.

podcasts (14:04.654)
in a market they're trying to get into. But it has sort of raised a few questions with a lot of supporters who are sort of questioning the ethics around the deals. Like, obviously, it's quite apparent that these deals are only there to generate money, as we've already mentioned. But on Twitter, you've seen sort of up pros and fans trying to like investigate the operators and see who's behind them and stuff like that. So I would definitely say that

there is quite an apparent trend in fans no questioning betting deals and getting behind things like programs like the Big Step who have been very active in fighting against these sponsorships. Yeah, I guess it depends on where you fall as a fan because at the end, one side you people are like, well, I'm not really bothered how my club generates money and as long as they abide in by rules, whereas there's all sorts of fans.

that I questioned the ethics and like, because last season, I know when we talked about Chelsea then before, there was reports that they was about to sign a deal with Stake, the online casino operator, and the Chelsea Supporters Trust came out and vehemently, you know, they didn't want it to happen because they see themselves as a big club, which they are, and they don't feel that they need gambling and betting partners, especially on the front of the kit. So, and then also Aston Villa fans came out.

I think it was about a couple of months before BK got announced as their front of shirt sponsor. And they also said the same thing. They said that we kind of, it's a bit outdated now. I think there's something to that. I felt it's a bit outdated and it's a bit, you know, not what the club should be pursuing. But like we said before, I think the gambling sponsors make our offering the most money and the clubs are just saying, well, look, we've got to make money.

we've got to make the most amount of money and we haven't really got much time because we have these deadlines and these thresholds to meet. So yeah, it's, it's, I can see the club's argument and I can also see the fans argument and it's just a matter of ironing out these, these PSR rules and making it so that every club can prosper and not just the big six clubs. There's a lot of pressure just on clubs in general from all different areas, isn't there? Really both sort of financial fair play, profit and sustainability.

podcasts (16:27.15)
the need to perform well on the pitch and keep yourself in the top league and if you're lucky enough, potentially win something as well as then sort of, yeah, maintain that connection to your fans who are arguably the most important sort of stakeholder in all of this when it comes to sort of clubs' relationships and things like that. And being in the Premier League year in, year out, that's the most valuable thing that a club can be in because we've seen so many teams that they get relegated, like you, Birmingham City, for example, or your Portsmouthers, they were like mainstays in the league, weren't they? Yeah, Sunderland.

Yeah, that yearly revenue, TV revenue, as we know media rights are just absolutely surging right now. I know this Premier League inked a 6 .5 billion deal last December. So all that money's been generated coming in from the TV deal and plus your sponsorships because you're in the Premier League, you get more higher sponsorship deals. Just being in the league year in year out, that's such an important revenue drive growth driver for these clubs. So yeah, there's massive pressure on them to...

financially and then also on the pitch. And then that adds the other thing in of the clubs aren't in the Premier League who don't get that TV money and don't get that exposure. It's often been said, hasn't it, for a lot of the teams in the EFL they're the ones who rely even more on these betting deals because these companies are willing to pay a lot of money to get that exposure and engage with fans.

and the EFL clubs, that's a very valuable source of revenue. And managing a football club is a very difficult financial task, governing a football club, running one from a business perspective. I think something else is important to mention, just as we're getting to the end of this, is there was a study last week, I think Gamble Aware announced it, and there's also one from the Football Supporters Association showing a lot of discontent with the betting deals.

The number of them we've seen over the years is definitely leading to some fatigue and I think like you said earlier, Callum, I think some fans are seeing them as a bit outdated and not entirely necessary. So anyway, yeah, I'll just round off with we'll return to the Euros, trying to end this on a bit more of a fun note. Who do we reckon is gonna win it based on what we've seen so far?

podcasts (18:33.454)
Karen, your prediction first mate. I've said it from the start and even though I watched the game last night and they sort of threw me off a little bit, I'm still going to stick with Portugal. I think Portugal have got it even though they've got a harder run I suppose in England. And what about you, Callum? I still, I mean, I still, for some reason I can still see England get into the final just because it's, you're away from that side of the bracket where it's got Spain, Germany and Portugal, France on that Friday.

I mean, that's just like a bloodbath in it really. Whereas England we could face, albeit Switzerland have been great to watch. Austria and Turkey have also been quite impressive as well, especially Austria. We could easily get knocked out by any of them teams, but you'd fancy your chances to beat them. And then once it gets to the final, it's a free hit really if you go up against France, Portugal, Germany or Spain.

I still think we can get to the final. If we were to get to the final, I'd have them expecting to meet Spaner and I'd probably put a Spain beat us. Yeah, yeah. I think Spaner are a pretty solid shout for the whole thing, aren't they? But again, the way England have been playing, I wouldn't be surprised if we just carry on falling upwards and just manage to get there. Yeah, so obviously the rest of the Euros is on. I'd encourage all our listeners to keep a close eye on that. It'll be some great games to come.

Should be some great iGaming dailies to come as well of course so yeah please stay tuned and see you all next time.