SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Speaking at Betting on Football 2017, Nottingham Forest Commercial Manager Mark Bullock confirmed a renewed sponsorship deal with 888sport, described as “the biggest in the club’s history”.
Bullock hailed the ongoing success of the partnership with the Gibraltar-based 888sport, which has helped the club to successfully “combine a binary market with the engaged, emotive fan”.
As part of the deal, supporters of Forest have reaped the benefits of the “fan package”, with free away travel to Championship matches at the likes of Barnsley, Brentford and Blackburn Rovers.
Bullock was speaking in the Marketing & Media Track alongside AC Milan CCO Jaap Kalma and Celtic FC Commercial Director Adrian Filby, who labelled his club a “global club in a local market”. The session was moderated by BD Sports Rights Chairman Clive Russell.
Filby also said that betting based partnerships will remain strong north of the border, given that seven out of 10 adults in the country gambled during the last 12 months. Scottish adults are also three times more likely to place a bet than English counterparts.
During the session focused on value outside of the Premier League, Kalma acknowledged that Serie A needs to “take a leaf out of the Premier League’s book”, and that leagues such as La Liga and Bundesliga have been more active than Italy’s top flight within the internationalisation process.
Referencing Milan’s ongoing partnership with the recently merged SNAI and Cogetech, Kalma hopes to create value beyond pure visibility and awareness by reaching fans of the club.
Filby concluded by discussing the opportunity to monetise fans on social media, to sit alongside the work they are doing with WiFi and in-stadia partners. Bullock agreed with the potential of “bringing gamers to apps through the clubs”, while suggesting that the “time is now for gaming companies to create resonance and cut-through”, should Sky Bet walk away from its exclusive EFL deal in 2019.
