The online casino industry is a highly competitive and broad market. Several new casinos make it to the market month on month, so operators must continue looking for new ways to advertise their markets and attract players to remain profitable.
One of the channels fast payout casinos now use to market their brand is sponsorship deals. Sports sponsorship means what it sounds like. It involves a leading and fastest payout casino investing huge amounts of money in a sports event in exchange for promotion or endorsement.
Are you a fast payout online casino operator or gambling brand owner looking to sponsor tennis events? This post contains four interesting facts about tennis event sponsorships by gambling companies.
Tennis Sponsorship Deal Is Mutually Beneficial to the Casino and Event Hosts
Tennis sponsorship deals go for millions of dollars annually. But the deals are a two-way street that benefits both the sponsor and recipients when you look at it.
On the part of event hosts, a sponsorship agreement with top gambling companies provides an additional source of revenue which helps provide top experience to participating athletes and spectators. The millions invested in the deal also pay off for the online casino, as it increases their awareness.
Millions of people watch elite tennis competitions such as the Australia Open, Miami Open, Grand Slam, Wimbledon, Davis, and the Mercedes Cups. Sponsoring such events exposes the casino to all viewers.
In the best case, some spectators are avid gamblers who will wager real money on online bookies. Otherwise, many others will be video game lovers that try various tennis-themed slots at the promoted online casino for free.
It gets better if the bookmarker also operates a fast payout casino game library as they can introduce their new patrons to try other offers such as online slots, poker, baccarat, blackjack, etc.
Strong Support and Opposition of Casino’s Collaboration with Tennis Event Host
Tennis stakeholders take different sides regarding online casino sponsorship of tennis events.
Stanislas Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open Winner and former teammate of Roger Federer, stated that wagering companies’ partnership with tennis organizers helps rid the prestigious sport of corruption. He believes a sponsorship deal will also disincentivize gambling operators from partaking in match-fixing since they have a lot of money to lose. The terms of the deal also mandate even hosts to deliver optimally.
However, agencies such as the Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis opined that gambling severely threatens the sport’s integrity if their activities are unchecked. The body accused wagering companies of aiding match-fixing, especially at the lower levels. This review comes on the back of Novack Djokovic’s statement where he shared that a company approached him with bribery of £110000 as far back as 2007 to throw the match in their favor.
The allegation of the fastest payout online casino’s involvement in match-fixing made the ATP ban partnership deal with bookies temporarily in 2016. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is in charge of moderating top-flight tennis competitions such as the ATP Tour, ATP Champions Tour, and Challenger.
The ATP later lifted the sponsorship ban on gambling bodies in 2020, but strict rules were set in place to ensure healthy collaboration between tournament hosts and fast payout online casinos.
Players Are Prohibited From Endorsing Wagering Companies
Tennis regulatory bodies prohibit wagering companies from entering into endorsement deals with tennis players. This means the fastest payout online casino cannot use tennis jerseys in their advertisements. Players are also prohibited from endorsing a wagering company openly, having a wagering logo on their kit, or displaying public support for any wagering company. Bookmarkers are also banned from sponsoring lower-rung tennis competitions.
The above regulations prevent corruption in tennis competition as the regulators believe individual players, especially grassroots and mid-level players, are more easily influenced by wagering companies.
Although top tennis players such as Andy Murray have since called this regulation unfair and hypocritical, he believes the rule should also apply to tournament organizers at all levels.
Casinos Have Huge Investment in Tennis and Sports Sponsorship
Betway is arguably the biggest sponsor of professional tennis tournaments. The wagering giant spends millions of dollars annually in sport sponsorship deals to draw new customers to its platform.
However, they are not the only bookies that sponsor top-flight sporting competitions. There are other wagering companies and fast online casinos with decent sports sponsorship. Altogether, operators invest a big part of their marketing budget to the tune of tens of millions in tennis and sports sponsorship annually.
It’s not just tennis competitions that wagering companies sponsor. The fast payout online casino in South Africa also invests vast amounts of money into football clubs, players, basketball teams, and other sports to acquire new customers yearly.
Conclusion
Tennis sponsorship is one of the most viable ways for online casinos to get thousands of hot prospects on their site without doing much. This is because many tennis viewers participate in sports wagering and are also inclined to play real money slots for a chance to win cash if it doesn’t cost them much. While the tennis sponsorship pays off in the long run, it also has some intricacies. For example, casino operators can lose their deal if they aid match-fixing, sponsor individual tennis players, and low-rung tennis competitions.
Sports sponsorship is one of many ways to promote an online casino brand. Operators can also invest in content and influencer marketing, affiliate promotion, and bonus programs to draw new prospects to their site or engage existing ones.
