Soccer leagues across Europe will see a growing trend this year of online casino sponsorship. The English Premier League, French Ligue de Football Professionnel, and the Spanish Primera Liga will feature a growing number of soccer teams sponsored by online casino sites next season. Several online casino sites have joined the soccer sponsorship market in England this summer, following the World Cup and the summer’s soccer craze it brought about. They join several top French and Spanish clubs already wearing online casino logos on their sports jerseys.
Although some French legislators oppose any form of advertising of online casino gambling portals and online casino sites, both online and offline (such as on soccer players jerseys), the clubs seem not to have been aware of any such ban. The Toulouse Football Club spokesperson commented on the issue, saying ‘As far as we know, online casino gaming is the only illegal activity in France, which so far can be displayed without any risk.’
The online casino industry sponsorship of soccer clubs has been very successful in the past years.
The deals make sense in the light of recent uncertainties over the US market, and will serve to expand the brand further into Europe. Fans of the football clubs are expected to purchase jerseys with the online casino sites’ logos, and millions others throughout the world will be exposed to the online gambling industry and the websites every time they tune into the teams’ games.