Manchester United Now Sponsored By Bwin

Sports betting firm Bwin has now become the sponsor of Manchester United FC for the 2012/13 season, replacing previous official sponsors of three years Betfair.
Bwin are the current sponsors of La Liga champions Real Madrid, but with their €16 million a year shirt sponsorship deal expiring at the end of this season, the betting company took the opportunity to shift their promotion away from the Spanish market where they have already gained good exposure. In addition, Bwin said it was looking to move from costly offline brand advertising to digital partnerships, with Bwin.party co CEO Norbert Teufelberger commenting:
“As the official online gaming and betting partner, bwin.com has numerous online sponsoring rights, which fit perfectly with bwin.com products. Manchester United is famous for its international fan community. The club has more than 25 million friends on Facebook and over 200 official fan communities in 24 countries.”
Founded in 1878, Manchester United holds a number of records in English football, including 9 league titles, 11 FA Cups and 9 FA Community Shields. The Red Devils have aso won a further three European Cups, as well as a UEFA  Cup, and boasts a fan base of around 659 million people worldwide. Not surprisingly, Manchester United is the biggest soccer club in the world and worth an estimated $2.23 billion, ahead of second place Real Madrid, worth $1.88 billion.
Manchester United currently has a number of sponsorship deals already in place with major companies, including AON insurance for £20 million a year, Nike for £23.5 million a year and DHL for £10.5 million a year. Following announcement of the multimillion pound deal between Manchester United and Bwin, a message on the club’s website stated:
“Two giants in the world of sports coming together to start an enthralling partnership. From now on, bwin is Official Online Gaming and Betting Partner of English record-holders Manchester United!”