Earlier this week, UK-based gambling company, bet365, announced a “historic deal” to become the UEFA Champions League’s (UCL) first-ever official sports betting partner. 

On the latest episode of iGaming Daily, supported by Optimove, SBC News’ Senior Journalist, Viktor Kayed, was joined by Insider Sport’s Business Journalist, Kieran O’Connor, and SBC’s Project Director, Martyn Elliott, to discuss the importance of the partnership.

The three-year deal is rumoured to be worth up to £50m, which will help boost the prize money in the competition, and Martyn noted the importance of this given the ever-present threat of a breakaway European Super League. 

On the benefit of the deal for bet365, Martyn added: “It’s really hard for the UK bookmakers to get value from sponsoring a Premier League club, which is a similar sort of value over three years to this deal.

“What it does for bet365 is give them a huge reach into the audience around the world. One of the advantages bet365 has is that it’s a single-brand company, while most other major players have multiple brands. For bet365, it’s really simple, they are going to get some great value out of this and be associated with football’s most prestigious club tournament.”

The football industry has received criticism from fans and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in recent times for the ever-increasing volume of sports betting advertisements surrounding football games. 

Last month, the FA, Premier League, EFL and Women’s Super League agreed a new code of conduct on gambling agreements in the wake of several clubs signing sponsorship deals with betting providers not licensed in the UK.

Considering how this new collaboration fits into the football landscape experiencing a wider crackdown on sports betting advertisements across the continent, the trio conceded that UEFA will receive criticism for the move. However, they said that the deal is different to those listed above.

Kieran explained: “Having a regulated gambling company like bet365, who have real responsible gambling initiatives and practices, there is some trust there from supporters. Whereas these offshore and unregulated companies, nobody knows what you’re getting from them.”

Martyn agreed, and added that it should be seen as a positive that UEFA has chosen a partner that “puts responsible play at the forefront of their message and at the forefront of their interaction with players”.

Bet365 is not the only operator to sign a sponsorship deal with UEFA. This summer, Kaizen Gaming’s Betano brand served as the official betting partner for the 2024 European Championships.

Kieran recently spoke to Betano’s Head of Sponsorships, Tomasz Majewski, about the highlights of the deal, which included increased brand visibility and fan engagement. 

Additionally, he explained that the operator also benefited from the exclusivity. Other than the Euros, the only football tournament being played was the CONMEBOL Copa America, which was also sponsored by Betano.

Linking this to the bet365 deal, Kieran added: “There was no competing [at the Euros], but with the Champions League, that won’t be the same for bet365. 

“It’s a midweek competition in between regular season games, but at the same time on Tuesday and Wednesday, everybody is watching the Champions League. So for those Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they will have exclusiveness.”