Skrill terminates Football Conference sponsorship deal
Contract cancelled one year into a three-year term as payments provider pursues global strategy following CVC buyout
Egaming payments provider Skrill has called time on its sponsorship of the English Football Conference after just one season as it looks to adopt a more global approach to its marketing strategy.
Skrill had originally signed a three-year deal with the Conference, which was previously sponsored by the now defunct bookmaker Blue Square Bet, taking the sponsorship up to the end of the 2015-16 season.
However, this has now been brought forward and the deal will be terminated at the end of the current football season in May 2014.
Although Skrill has yet to comment on the termination, the Football Conference issued a statement which claimed that the sponsorship has been ended by mutual consent.
“Skrill has undergone a number of changes since the agreement was entered into and will be aligning any future sponsorship activity to its global strategy,” the statement said.
A month after the original agreement was signed in July 2013, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners purchased a 75% controlling stake in Skrill, and a subsequent company reshuffle saw the appointment of Joe Hall to VP of sales for its US arm as the company announced its intention to target the potentially lucrative US market.
“Our market position means we’re best-placed to take advantage of the positively changing online gambling landscape in the US,” Siegfried Heimgaertner, president and Skrill Group CEO, said at the time.