The Premier League (PL) unit, Manchester City, has announced a new sponsorship association with Spain’s top-most betting firm, Sportium. This deal has named the company as the club’s official betting partner for the Latin America region.
The partnership allows for co-branded content for the Spanish company’s Latin American customers, and the use of digital and in-stadium branded assets at the Etihad Stadium.
This kind of sponsorship arrangement is the third one of 2022 for the defending champions of the PL. Before Sportium, Manchester City inked agreements with LeoVegas and 8XBet in Europe and Canada, respectively, signed in July and September.
Dina Ahmad, City Football Group’s Vice President of Partnership Sales, said, “We are pleased to welcome Sportium as a new regional partner of Manchester City today. The new partnership not only allows us to build on our growth and reach new audiences in Latin America but bring them closer to the club through unique content and experiences and we look forward to working with Sportium to achieve this.”
The agreement is the corporation’s first in the English Premier League, where a ban on shirt sponsorship agreements between betting operators and teams has long been predicted as a probable option of the Gambling Act review in 2005.
Regional international alliances, including the firm’s agreement with the 2021/22 reigning champions, would be unaffected by such a ban, the compliance of which by the UK government is unsure following significant delays to the White Paper.
Alberto Eljarrat, Sportium CEO, said, “Our brand has always been linked up to top competitions and major sports clubs. But this collaboration with Manchester City implies a new step forward for Sportium in our internationalisation journey.
“We feel we share great values with the club, such as effort, integrity and teamwork, and we aim to bring these values to those Spanish-speaking geographies where we are present with our unique omnichannel entertainment offering.“
Manchester City was last seen in action earlier today in the Champions League against Copenhagen, where the former won the fixture 5-0.
The team will be next seen in action in the English top flight on Saturday, October 8 against Southampton FC.