EUROPE - With football season in, the number of football clubs in Europe with gaming companies as sponsors has slowly been surely growing.
Betfair has signed up two clubs so far -- Spanish club FC Barcelona and English Premiere club Manchester United. This is the first time since 2003 that the company has sponsored a football club. In recent years, people will remember Betfair to have taken an interest on cricket and horseracing.
The Sportingbet logo is emblazoned on Portsmouth jerseys while Chelsea FC will be heralding Asian sportsbook 188Bet as its official betting partner. Three other English clubs have 188Bet as sponsors as well -- Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa, and Bolton Wanderers. Earlier this year, Sportingbet also forged an agreement with second-tier football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. Bodog Europe will meanwhile be visible as Fulham FC's official betting and gaming partner. British gaming firm William Hill on the other hand went south to sponsor Malaga CF.
Aside from sports teams, Betfair is also in an agreement with UK sports radiostation TalkSport as its official betting partner while Austrian gaming company Bwin has secured broadcast rights for Spanish football's Primera and Segunda leagues. Bwin is also a sponsor of AC Milan and Real Madrid and also sponsors FIBA games and MotoGP.
