Sportsbet now our record club sponsor at over £7.5m a year for 3 years. Not thrilled about it being a betting company so hopefully that gets banned sooner rather than later and we get a different one of coingaming group’s companies instead:
Southampton have announced a record-breaking three-year deal with Sportsbet.io as their front-of-shirt sponsor.
The betting company initially signed a one-year contract when they replaced LD Sports before the 2020-21 season started.
What are the terms of the deal?
Coingaming Group have signed a three-year contract to sponsor Southampton, which is understood to be worth more than £7.5m a year.
This means it will surpass what previous sponsors LD Sports agreed to pay the club when they entered into a partnership with them in 2019.
What has been said?
David Thomas, Southampton’s chief commercial officer, said: “The team at Sportsbet.io have built a successful business by challenging convention and disrupting the market, but in a responsible way, and their approach to our partnership with them has been no different.
“In a short timeframe they’ve proven to be innovative, forward-thinking and extremely supportive of the club, our fans and the wider community, and we’ve welcomed the opportunity to develop and promote safe gambling messages together.”
Coingaming Group chief executive Maarja Part added: “Our first season as Southampton FC’s Main Club Partner has already exceeded all expectations. We’ve been inspired by the passion of the club and its fans, and it was an easy decision for us to extend our partnership with the Saints for another three years.”
What if gambling sponsors are banned?
Southampton have taken this question into consideration.
As the partnership is with Coingaming Group, in which Sportsbet falls under their umbrella, they will replace the front-of-shirt sponsor with another one of their companies if gambling sponsors are banned as part of an upcoming review.
Are there any quirky elements to the deal?
As part of the three-year deal, Southampton have the option to be paid certain performance-related bonuses in Bitcoin.
If they qualified for the Champions League, then Sportsbet, hypothetically speaking, would offer to pay them £1 million worth of Bitcoin.
However, it’s up to Southampton to decide whether they want to accept payment in this form.