188bet Signs Sponsorship Deal With Liverpool Football Club

Online gambling site 188bet is no stranger to football sponsorship and are the only company ever to sponsor two Barclays Premier League football clubs in the same season. They have now agreed to add Liverpool Fc to its premiership stable which also includes Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Chelsea FC.
The initiative couldn’t have come at a better time as Liverpool Fc have been running into a few financial difficulties despite a record £162 million revenue being generated in year ended 2008. Kop Football Holdings Ltd, the parent company of the club, bought Liverpool Fc in 2007 partly funded by a £350 million loan and after interest repayments were made the 2008 revenue of £162 million translated into a net loss of £42.6 million.
The latest deal with 188bet is for three year and the company now replaces Ladbrokes as the clubs official betting partner. Liverpol Fc couldn’t be happier with the deal, either, as it is believed their new sponsor will help win over an army of fans in the enormously profitable Asian market. Ian Ayre, Liverpool’s commercial director, said: “Given 188Bet’s presence in Asia, we will develop a number of initiatives that will mutually benefit our respective organisations.”
Commenting on the potential which the deal holds for Liverpool Fc, Jeremy Chatterton, head of sponsorship at independent advertising and PR agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay said:
“You only have to look at the likes of where Manchester United and Chelsea go in their off-season, where they’re building their fan base outside of their traditional market – it is Asia. At the same time, it’s inevitable that more and more online companies will look at sponsoring Premier League clubs, specifically as Web and online markets expand, because the Premier League is arguably the hottest property in global sports at the moment.”
Despite the global downturn Interet gambling companies have weathered the storm well and being a liquid cash industry are ever ready to invest in high profile ventures for their business. Austrian based online betting company bwin, for instance, sponsors Real Madrid, A.C. Milan, Bayern Munich, FC Slovan Liberec, as well as the top Portuguese football league, known as the bwinLIGA.