The world of online gambling involves a massive amount of money. Operators keep finding innovative ways to market their brands and attract new players. One of the major avenues of this money comes from sponsorships. With sponsorships, gambling companies invest a significant amount of their marketing budget in sports and entertainment to gain more exposure. This article rounds up the most interesting casino sponsorships that caused quite a stir in the past few years. So, without wasting any time, let’s dive in.
Crypto.com’s $100 Million Deal With F1 As Official NFT Partner and Crypto Sponsor
Partnering with crypto companies has become a sort of status symbol for F1 companies. Approximately 80% of the F1 teams have at least one crypto marketing partner. But no other partnership has been so big. Back in 2021, F1 Formula and Crypto.com agreed to what can only be called one of the biggest online casino sponsorship deals in history.
The five-year agreement cost a staggering $100 million, but Crypto.com became the only official NFT partner and crypto sponsor of Formula 1. Under the contract, the online crypto casino got exclusive rights to feature prominently at all F1 events and trackside slots during games.
The partnership officially kicked off during the 2021 British Grand Prix and has been going strong despite the recent crypto market slump. While Crypto.com has scaled back some of its sponsorship deals, like the Twitch Rivals partnership, and in some instances backed out entirely, like the UEFA Champions League, it will be interesting to see how this partnership holds up in the future.
Stake’s Highest Value Front-of-shirt Multi-million Deal with Everton Football Club (F.C.)
April 2023 brought some bad news for iGaming sponsors. Premier League clubs agreed to drop all iGaming sponsors from the front of soccer kits starting from the 2026-27 season. One sponsorship deal that will surely face the brunt of this development is Stake.com’s partnership with Everton.
The Australian crypto sports betting and casino platform secured a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Everton FC last year. What made this deal turn heads all over the world was the fact that it was reportedly the most valuable front-of-shirt agreement in the Premier League club’s 144-year history.
Established in 2017, Stake.com has quickly grown into the industry’s leading online casino, with millions of users worldwide. In such a short period, the Curacao-based company has partnered with several other sports franchises like Boxing Japan, Brazil’s Rugby League, and the English Watford FC. It has also struck endorsement deals with celebrities like Drake.
In the midst of the recent “crypto winter,” all eyes are set on Stake.com to see how they will handle the fallout.
F.C. Barcelona’s Partnership with Russian Gambling Company 1xBet
The said had raised eyebrows for several reasons, even before the war in Ukraine broke out.
For starters, breaching the contract before its expiration on June 30, 2024, would come at a steep cost for the football club, potentially amounting to millions of euros in compensation. Secondly, 1xBET’s history remains another eyesore. The Curacao-based online gaming company used to promote a virtual casino with explicit content, broadcast matches without copyrights and offered bets on child competitions and cockfights, among other questionable activities.
As if that wasn’t enough, the company’s founders, Serguei Karshkov, Roman Semiojin, and Dmitri Kazorin, remained on Interpol’s list for various scams related to illegal gambling.
Despite these concerns, F.C. Barcelona remains steadfast in its partnership. It maintains that 1xBET operates as an independent company and meets all legal requirements for the agreement.
However, the industry insiders paint a different picture. According to La Liga, F.C. Barcelona is the only Spanish football club with a negative salary limit of 144.35 million euros. It’s also facing a debt of €1,350 million. The only thing that can smoothen finances to some extent is its partnership with 1xBET which reportedly provides 9 to 12 million euros of income every year, subject to market fluctuations.
PokerStars’ collaboration with Formula 1’s Oracle Red Bull
The world’s online gambling and entertainment leader, PokerStars, is building strongly on its last year’s successful collaboration with Oracle Red Bull. The online poker cardroom has extended its global partnership with the Formula 1 Racing Team for the entire 2023 season.
That means Pokerstars will return to the racetrack with even more rewards, competitions, and exclusive content for the fans of the racing game spread across all PokerStars platforms. Some of the winners of various competitions will also be getting the opportunity to experience race days first-hand. The partnership also allows Pokerstars branding on numerous elements of the RB19 race car. It includes the car’s halo, inner cockpit, rear wind end plate, race suits, and crew helmets.
Not to forget, the coveted PokerStars Red Spade Pass is also returning for the second consecutive year. Pass holders get exclusive access to several money-can’t-buy experiences to make their F1 dreams come true in real life.
Betting On the Future
As the world of sports and entertainment continues to evolve, casinos are betting on the future by leveraging sponsorships as a powerful tool to gain global visibility. From soccer to motorsports and esports, these innovative partnerships offer unique opportunities for casinos to integrate their brands into the everyday discourse and capture new audiences. So, expect to see even more creative and unconventional sponsorships emerging in the coming years. And rest assured, we will be there every step of the way to keep you posted.
