Bristol City Football Club has confirmed that MansionBet will keep its place as the club’s main partner and front-of-shirt sponsor over the 2021/2022 season.
MansionBet, which is part of the online casino and gambling provider Mansion Group, first became a sponsor of the football club over the last season. With the sponsorship deal now, the gambling brand’s logo will be displayed upon the football clubs home and away shirts during the next campaign.
In the statement announcing the sponsorship extension, Bristol City F.C. explained that it remains committed to the promotion of responsible gambling services. The football club also shared that the MansionBet logo would not be displayed on the club’s youth team kits.
The head of integrated marketing at the online gambling group, Dana Bocker, said that it had been an eventful first season for the brand thanks to its partnership with Bristol City. Ms Bocker explained that the first year as a sponsor of the championship football club resulted in positive fan engagement and strong brand awareness. During the next campaign, the gambling operator will seek making a more personal connection with football fans and is set to show its support for both the club and its fanbase through a variety of initiatives.
Football Clubs Criticised for Inking Sponsorship Agreements with Gambling Companies
This is not the first time when MansionBet has become a sponsor of a football club. Previously, the online gambling company has sponsored the clubs of Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur, Millwall and AFC Bournemouth. It has also been the official betting partner of Newcastle United and Manchester City.
The announcement for the extension of the sponsorship agreement has come at a time when such partnership deals between professional football clubs and athletes and gambling operators have been facing a lot of criticism.
In 2020, the Select Committee, which was established by the House of Lords to analyse the impact that the gambling sector on professional sports, made a recommendation saying that betting companies should no longer be permitted to advertise on the shirts of football clubs that compete in leagues below the English Premier League (EPL) as of 2023.
Currently, the recommendation is being reviewed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS).
The massive wave of criticism has put a lot of pressure on English football clubs, some of which have felt forced to cut their ties with their gambling sponsors. Most recently, Norwich City F.C. ended its sponsorship deal with the online gambling company Dafabet, only to join forces with another betting company BK8. The new deal, however, drew even more criticism because of the gambling operator’s controversial marketing approach. Norwich City F.C. listened to that and backed out of the deal, which has left them with a massive £5-million hole in the club’s budget.
- Author
Daniel Williams
