SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Sky Bet, the title sponsor of the English Football League (EFL), are sponsoring extra buses and coaches for Brighton & Hove Albion fans for the postponed fixture against Cardiff City.
The original match day was due to be played on 30th December but it was rescheduled for 24th January after being postponed due to heavy fog. But with the new date affected by the industrial action of rail workers, thousands of Albion fans are having to arrange alternate ways to reach the game.
Sky Bet, in conjunction with Brighton, have agreed to sponsor 12 contingency buses across two additional park-and-ride sites in Brighton & Hove, that will run fans to the Amex for the match.
Cardiff City fans who made the 200-mile round trip left the south coast disappointed, but Sky Bet swiftly stepped in with an offer of free travel for the rescheduled game.
Sky Bet sponsorship manager David Tweed said: “When we saw the rearranged fixture would be affected by the Southern Rail strikes, we thought it was only fair to help the Brighton & Hove Albion fans in the same way we’d helped Cardiff.
“With both sets of fans catered for, hopefully the game will deliver a performance that is worth the wait!”
Brighton & Hove Albion Chief Executive Paul Barber said: “We are very grateful to Sky Bet for their sponsorship. Due to the ongoing rail dispute it has been a really tough season in terms of travel for our fans; not to mention our operations team, who’ve done a tremendous job in terms of providing regular contingency travel around the rail disruptions.
“This has been very costly for the club, particularly for the Cardiff City match – having already arranged and paid for contingency travel services for the original game – so this sponsorship is extremely welcomed by the club, and I’d like to thank Sky Bet for their support.”
