The end goal: What bwin’s coveted UEFA sponsorship could mean for the industry

Entain caused quite the furore recently when the FTSE 100 operator secured a landmark, three-season sponsorship with European football’s governing body, UEFA. The deal saw Entain’s bwin brand become an official partner of both the Europa League and the newly formed Europa Conference League on 7 September. In a world of increasing draconian advertising laws for gambling in sport, this opened the door to a plethora of new marketing opportunities through a commercial deal with one of sport’s leading organisations. Little more than a week later, on 16 September, West Ham United travelled to Croatia to play Dinamo Zagreb in their first-ever Europa League group stage fixture. Goals from Michail Antonio and Declan Rice sealed a 2-0 win for the Hammers in front of more than 12,000 fans. However, something was missing: West Ham’s front-of-shirt sponsor, Betway, was nowhere to be seen owing to Croatian advertising law. And, so, a piece is pulled on the Jenga tower that is gambling sponsorship in European football.

Why now?

While EGR understands Betway holds no qualms regarding the decision, which relates to Croatian regulation forbidding gambling sponsors on shirts, it does show the uneven terrain into which bwin has entered with its partnership. Gambling sponsorship in sports, especially football, has been placed under the microscope in recent years for its impact on young people and at-risk customers. Last year, for instance, researchers at Ipsos Mori and the Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling found that 96% of people aged 11-24 had been exposed to gambling marketing messages in the last month. Speaking on the announcement of the deal, Entain digital Europe MD Stephan Heilmann said: “The partnership will provide an array of exciting opportunities to enhance our offer to our customers, creating unique new experiences and content.” While Heilmann will be undoubtably excited by the proposition of bwin being afforded huge swathes of advertising space and millions of eyeballs from across Europe zoning in on the brand, the deal comes at a crossroads for the industry. Many will be asking, why embark on such a deal when countries throughout Europe are waking up to the impact of gambling sponsorship in sports? Bwin does hold a strong sponsorship legacy in European football, having partnered with the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the past, and more recently Valencia before the introduction of advertising restrictions in Spain, so could be looking to re-establish itself in Europe as a major player. Interestingly, it has been more than four years since England’s Football Association (FA) decided to unilaterally cease all sponsorships with gambling firms following a three-month review into the practice. Four years is an awfully long time in the gambling industry, which provokes questions around why UEFA would take this decision now in a direct transition away from the precedent set by other governing bodies. Gamban founder Matt Zarb-Cousin tells EGR: “The FA ended partnerships with gambling firms because it figured that doing so would run contrary to upholding sports integrity. UEFA should charge the betting industry a licence fee to offer bets on their competitions, rather than promote a particular betting brand to children.”

Integrity issues

Integrity and fighting match-fixing are usual caveats plugged onto the end of gambling sponsorships with sporting bodies. Almost all operators and data providers that team up with clubs, leagues or bodies promise to lend their expertise and knowledge into fighting against malpractices. UEFA has been a strong advocate against match-fixing and earlier this summer announced a feasibility study into corruption and the need for member nations to develop a social responsibility strategy. Speaking to EGR, Guy-Laurent Epstein, UEFA marketing director, says: “The partnership with bwin allows UEFA to engage more openly with the sports betting sector, giving greater access to market intelligence and support from both a sports integrity and a commercial perspective.” In fact, UEFA referred to its integrity mission as a “key element” of the deal with Entain when announcing the partnership, with the governing body keen to double down on the additional benefits of the agreement. Zarb-Cousin takes a rather dim view on this moral and professional standpoint from UEFA, arguing that partnering with a gambling firm is contradictory to improving the fan experience. “[It] sounds like an attempt to justify entering into a lucrative commercial partnership that runs contrary to their primary objective of sports integrity. “When between 60% and 80% of online gambling profits come from the 5% considered problem or at-risk gamblers and given practices such as cross-selling sports bettors to more addictive casino products, it is difficult to ascertain how this might improve the fan experience,” he adds.

What’s next?

Some figures in the industry have suggested this move could pave the way for elite-tier football competitions to be sponsored by gambling firms. The Europa League and Europa Conference League sit below UEFA’s crown jewels of club and international football in the shape of the Champions League and European Championships, with the notion this could be the first penetration for gambling advertising via the lower rungs of the ladder. However, UEFA told EGR its commercial sales process is open to all industries and that bwin’s presence as a major sponsor for two of its entities did not flag an immediate turn to gambling sponsorship en masse. The body said: “UEFA runs an open sales process for sponsorship packages for its competitions, but we have no further information regarding any discussions about future partnerships.” Perhaps the key aspect of UEFA’s response lies in the idea of future partnerships. As more countries begin to bring in advertising legislation, and the wider public becomes involved in the discourse around the potential harms, the chance of gambling sponsorship experiencing a second wave seems slim. Instead, Zarb-Cousin suggests this move by Entain is merely striking while the iron still holds some residual heat. He says: “This [regulatory headwinds] is clearly going to be an issue in many jurisdictions in the not-too-distant future. But perhaps Entain are filling their boots before restrictions are in place.” One only has to look to the likes of Italy and Spain for the impact of blanket bans on gambling advertising in sports, and with the UK (according to reports) set to go down a similar path, albeit perhaps with more targeted restrictions like a ban on shirt sponsorships, it appears as if Entain has perched itself atop of the ecosystem instead of navigating domestic leagues one by one. But by merely partnering with the big boss doesn’t give you the skeleton key to all regulatory doors, with UEFA adding: “Bwin is responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable laws whenever exercising its rights.” This absolution from the governing body, essentially pinning bwin with the regulatory headaches while taking the cheque to the bank, is symptomatic of many gambling sponsorships in the world of football. But this standoffishness can’t last forever, according to Zarb-Cousin. “It is interesting to see one of Entain’s brands shift its marketing focus to European competitions, which is perhaps a recognition that the tide is turning in domestic leagues. But UEFA will have to respond to this new reality eventually, so it cannot rely on gambling sponsorship as a source of long-term sustainable revenue,” he notes. The new reality will eventually come quickly for the monolith that is UEFA. By the time its commercial relationship with bwin reaches an end, the landscape may well look entirely different across the continent.