The inexorable growth for Bet365 looks set to continue as it signs a deal with Sky Sports to sponsor Monday and Friday night televised soccer matches from England’s Premier League.
Rather like the advertising slots during the Super Bowl, the Monday and Friday night games are one of the most prestigious sports sponsorship opportunities available. Bet365’s sponsorship will be alongside that of car manufacturer Nissan, although Bet365 will be the exclusive sponsor of the iconic Monday Night Football program.
The coming football season will be the biggest yet broadcast
Sky Sports says that the 2016-2017 season that begins on August 13 will be the “biggest ever,” with 126 live matches to be broadcast.
John Coates, Joint Group Chief Executive of bet365, commented:
“In what promises to be one of the biggest ever seasons in the Premier League this new opportunity with Sky Sports is big news all round. It’s certainly a fitting collaboration and is testament to bet365’s continued and expanding relationship with Sky Sports.”
The deal between Bet365 and Sky Media was negotiated by Drummond Central and Republic of Media. The two agencies offered a joint statement taking equal plaudits for making the deal happen.
CEO of Drummond Central, Julie Drummond, and Joint MD of Republic of Media, Stuart Feather, said:
“We’ve been working closely with the team at Sky Media over several years to establish and secure complementary commercial opportunities for bet365 and the EPL was always at the top of our list. We’re all looking forward to being part of Sky’s biggest ever season bringing more games on more days to bet365’s core customers.”
Bet365 is committed to its home market
Bet365 is based in Stoke-on-Trent, a middle England city, where it is the largest private sector employer. It was one of only a few online gambling companies to remain based in the U.K. after the government passed the 2005 Gambling Act.
The new act introduced a 15 percent gaming duty on online gambling providers, leading to an exodus of the industry. The Gambling (Licensing & Advertising) Act of 2014 amended the 2005 act partly in an attempt to repatriate online sports betting and gambling operators.
The 2014 Act introduced a 15 percent point of consumption tax so that operators only needed to pay gambling duty on their U.K. customers.
The founder of Bet365, Denise Coates, was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the community and business. Her decision to keep most of Bet365’s business in England undoubtedly contributed to her receiving the honor.
Coates owns 50.1 percent of the shares in Bet365 and is the controlling shareholder as well as joint CEO with her brother John. Since creating Bet365 in 2000, she has built up a fortune of $3 billion as estimated by Forbes Magazine.
