British land-based and online sportsbetting operator William Hill has agreed a two and a half year deal to serve as an ‘official supporter' of the English national football team and an ‘official supporter' and ‘official betting partner' of the FA Cup.
The agreement signed with The Football Association governing body came into effect in advance of the weekend’s third round FA Cup fixtures and is to continue until the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Dating back to 1871, the FA Cup is the world’s oldest football knockout cup competition and William Hill stated that the deal is ‘the first of its type for the betting industry’ and features a ‘wide and unique range’ of image rights, advertising and promotional opportunities.
“We have been looking for sponsorship opportunities from which we can reward and engage with our customers for the events they most enjoy,” said Ralph Topping, Chief Executive Officer for London-based William Hill.
“This deal with The Football Association will help us to achieve our objectives of developing the prominence of our brand and increasing market share in all our business channels.
“Our ‘official betting partner’ status of the FA Cup complements our existing partnership with the Scottish Football Association and our sponsorship of the Scottish Cup with which we are already extremely delighted and it becomes a welcome addition to our quality range of sponsorships within darts, snooker and racing.
“The next two and a half years are an exciting time for UK football and we're delighted to now be part of all of those events.”
“We are delighted to have William Hill on board,” said Peter Daire, Head of Sponsorship for The Football Association.
“It has a strong track record in sports sponsorship and a considerable online and High Street presence that will enable us to strengthen our communication platforms for England and the FA Cup. In return, William Hill will benefit from an association with two of the highest-profile football sponsorship properties in the world.”
Source: iGamingBusiness.com
