SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Française des Jeux (FDJ) has announced a new responsibility directive after its flagship sportsbook property ‘ParionsSport’ launched a sponsorship programme to help France’s distressed amateur football clubs.
Launching a national campaign across French media, ParionsSport has outlined plans to directly sponsor 100 amateur football clubs, with individual grants of €1,600 allocated for team equipment.
ParionsSport has begun taking applications from prospective teams, which the bookmaker stated must be accredited as an amateur organisation by the French Football Federation (FFF).
The 100 participating clubs will be selected by a special committee headed up by French football broadcaster and ParionsSport ambassador, Smaïl Bouabdellah who will work alongside French grassroots football programmes SpaceFoot and Fondaction du Football.
Meanwhile, ParionsSport-sponsored Ligue 1 clubs Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais will select the qualifying amateur clubs for their provinces.
Further to its sponsorship programme, ParionsSport will also establish a ‘territorial network’ of support for amateur clubs to track the progress and development of its new sponsorship programme.
Recording COVID-19 impacts across its entire retail portfolio, FDJ stated that its 2020 operating objective would focus on delivering group costs savings of €85 million.
Despite launching a series of emergency actions, FDJ underlined that none of its long-term sponsorship and national initiatives would be affected by cuts, as the French national lottery operator continues its support of France’s Olympic squad, national arts council and Paris 2024 Olympics.
