Could 2021 see the expansion of online casinos in sport?

Some of the best-known football and sports clubs happen to be sponsored by online casinos around the world. For the team themselves, this is usually an easy choice. Casino sites typically have a vast global reach, which resonates well with a football or sports club’s usually extensive reach.

Granted, the upfront cost can be significant. But considering that sportsbooks and casinos are expected to be worth around £61 billion by 2022, this would still seem worthwhile to most. Just look at the popularity of the Premier League. Around half of the casinos operating in the region happen to have a deal to sponsor a team, including BetWay Online Casino, a well-known gaming site.

The influence of online casinos on the sporting world

Online casinos are continuing to grow in size or even merging with existing companies. For example, Flutter Entertainment and The Stars Group, Caesars Entertainment and Eldorado Resorts, and William Hill, Evolution and NetEnt. A pattern which is only expected to continue.

This could be happening because brick and mortar establishments are becoming less popular, as people realise the benefits of iGaming online. To prove this, it was found that around 50% of people used their phones to play casino games in 2019.

In contrast, things which are happening within the sporting world can have a knock-on effect on online casinos. Indeed, the shutdown of many major sporting events last year had a damaging impact on sporting revenues. But, as multiple major leagues returned, things slowly started to improve. The same can be said for the retail establishments as well. As more and more online casinos launch, it can be argued that certain sports could be popularised as a result. Specifically, for casinos which incorporate sports including games like football and horse racing. Additionally, sports iGaming itself is increasingly becoming legalised across American states, which could further help popularise certain sports.

How certain sports have capitalised on sponsorship

Casinos sponsors are somewhat attractive for sports teams because online casino sites are performing very well at the moment. This is proven by the fact that, year on year, they generate billions of pounds. As a result, casino companies usually have plenty of money to spend advertising their brand. This is often on players’ clothing and accessories and within sports venues themselves.

Let's take football as an example. Over 50% of all Premier League teams happen to be sponsored by a casino company of some form or other. In fact, many football teams actually rely on casino sponsors to top up their transfer kitties.

iGaming sponsorship is also popular with other types of sport, including golf, where some players actually use multiple sponsors at one time. Darts is another sport which makes use of online casino sponsorship. Perhaps one of the most widely known in this sport being BetVictor. They actually extended their sponsorship rights for the World Cup of Darts back in 2020.

Ways that casino sponsorship improves visibility for sports teams

There’s no doubt that sponsorship can help to promote sports teams. Firstly, sponsorship helps to make the sport more visible. This is thanks to marketing strategies such as social media, information being featured on websites and follow-up. Promotional videos are also usually published.

Similarly, print marketing can also help with this (event brochures, mailers sent to attendees and signage placed around the stadium). There is also the chance for sponsors to communicate live with an audience. This is thanks to announcements, which can occur right until the end of the game.

Sponsorship can also help to foster a stronger sense of community connection.

Specifically, a stronger connection with a local team and the town or city in which they play. This is particularly the case when the sponsor happens to be a local company.

Sponsorship benefits both casinos and sports teams

All around the world, more and more sports teams are making use of sponsorship from online casinos. This makes absolute sense, considering the ginormous outreach they have. Plus, the ability to make teams more visible through different digital and traditional methods of marketing.

Equally, casinos are generally happy to invest in sponsorship as they tend to perform well anyway and achieve impressive earnings. Traditionally, sponsorship has been popular with well-known sports such as football, darts and golf. However, other sports are considering sponsorship as well as they realise its many benefits.

It will be interesting to see whether bigger and better sponsorship opportunities become available in the near future when you consider that sportsbooks are increasingly becoming legalised in the US. Not to mention the fact that online casinos themselves are increasingly expanding or merging.