2022 is set to be a big year for both sports and the sports betting industry, with the review of the 2005 Gambling Act underway and the World Cup scheduled for the winter.
Making an appearance at the Betting on Sports Europe event last month, Russ Yershon, Director at sports marketing company Connecting Brands – which works to activate sponsorships and partnerships with Premier League football clubs – discussed upcoming developments with SBC Media’s Erin Gallagher.
“The politicians are discussing what’s going to happen in 2022 and beyond, whether shirt sponsorships from sports betting brands are going to be taken out in terms of what betting brands can do,” he said.
“I think it’s going to be another two years before anything comes into play. 2022 is a massive year for these brands to really connect with customers, whether it’s in the UK, US or Europe, to really maximise the acquisition, get your customer base there and the World Cup takes care of itself.”
By effectively coordinating their partnerships, sponsorships and brand activations as part of a wider successful marketing strategy, Yershon continued, operators will be able to effectively leverage the ‘phenomenal year of sport’ coming up in 2022.
Although the aforementioned Gambling Act review could see a severing of ties between betting companies and sports clubs – particularly top-flight football teams – the extensive sporting calendar next year still provides some key marketing opportunities.
“I think a lot of the sportsbooks are going to be really ramping up their spend ahead of the new season, and a few months after that everything stops Premier League wise and we go straight into the countdown for the World Cup,” Yershon continued.
“It’s going to be a phenomenal year because brands really need to get their house in order, secure their partnerships, secure their sponsorships, get their ambassadors sorted and really make sure that they’ve got some amazing content exclusive from these ambassadors and utilise these partnerships to make it a phenomenal year.”
Lastly, when quizzed by Gallagher on the BOSE event, Yershon highlighted the Bet Builder 2.0 panel, noting that the product is now ‘massive’ across multiple markets.
He explained: “It was good to hear what’s happening with BetBuilders, obviously as we know its a massive product now in sportsbooks here in the UK, and also globally as well – in the US they call it Prop Bets – it’s absolutely massive.
“We heard from a good number of sportsbook guys as to where the products going and how its currently performing, and how the liabilities can be managed, because obviously there are some big bets that are being put on in terms of the smaller staking customers that are just putting massive bet builders together to win a serious amount of money. It was really good to hear what was happening on their side of the book.”
