The Role of Casino Sponsors in Supporting Football Teams
Sponsors are the key contributors to almost every
Pros and Cons of Casino Sponsors with Football Teams
Sponsors are the key contributors to almost every sports event, especially football. Although they are not always viewed as completely positive, certainly, most sports teams wouldn't be able to manage without using sponsors. This includes casino sponsors, especially those that focus on sports betting.
Casino sponsors for teams come in multiple varieties. In some cases, the casino sponsor will only purchase banners during the team's matches. Other casino sponsors will go as far as to add their brand name to the team or even change the whole team name.
This is very common for betting houses and casinos with the fantasy football feature. But, it can also promote traditional games such as a roulette simulator or card games.
Generally, there are three reasons why teams would want to have a casino sponsor:
- Financial and material support
- Team brand awareness
- Easier cooperation out of tournaments
Regardless of how you look at this kind of support, it is most likely that casino football sponsors are here to stay.
Material and Financial Support
Most fans will be familiar with larger teams that play in very prominent leagues. Here, sponsors will need to pay exorbitant amounts to be featured on the jerseys or even banners. It is calculated that the average shirt sponsorship for the Premiere League can cost up to 70 million US dollars.
But, there are a lot more sponsorships of smaller, local teams. These teams may even have volunteer players and depend on the support from sponsors. Casino sponsors here can assist with training equipment, as well as cleats, jerseys, or upkeep costs.
In return, the sponsor will create goodwill and marketing with the local supporters. In many cases, the sponsor will even offer casino benefits to those supporters, locking in customers on a grassroots level.
Brand Awareness
It is very easy for teams in major leagues to become recognized. Other teams like Steaua Bucharest or Red Star Belgrade may come from smaller leagues but have won the Champions League. But, most teams globally are not on this level.
For smaller teams, getting their name out there via a recognizable sponsor is necessary if they want to attract fans, scouts, or even players. The casino sponsors are often big names that sponsor bigger clubs as well, sharing that awareness with the smaller team.
Today, in the age of social media, this has one more component because players from smaller teams can get commercial deals and individual sponsorships, which assists their team, their manager, and their prospects.
Easier Cooperation
Casino sponsors frequently work as a lynchpin between otherwise unaffiliated teams to foster cooperation. The sponsor will sometimes get a few friendly matches as part of their contract which they can use to play off two teams they both sponsor.
For the sponsor, organizing such friendly matches means they can be the main sponsor and take virtually all banners and half-time promotions. This is usually much more than they would be able to do with a championship match with the larger team where they are just one of the sponsors.
Larger teams get the chance to have a friendly match where they can test out new strategies and players. Smaller teams will be able to learn something new and get even more recognition from playing the bigger team. In the end, everyone wins.
Drawbacks of Casino Sponsors
The biggest critique of casino sponsors for football teams is that they are inadvertently promoting gambling to minors. People usually become fans of a team at an early age and in many countries going to the game is a family event. Here, they are familiarized with sports betting and gambling before they are even able to gamble.
In most countries, casino sponsors offset this by promoting safe betting programs and ensuring to state that minors will not be allowed in the casino. Still, underage gambling is a risk and should be mentioned.
Objectively, casino sponsors do more good than harm and should be kept to assist the development of the sport and smaller teams. But, we should also be aware of the risks and require casinos to follow rules and protect those who need it.
