It is not uncommon for gaming companies to sponsor events and sporting teams. From PokerStars to 888, sports fans often see gaming company logos on stadiums, uniforms and other aspects of a sporting group. This is especially true in the United Kingdom where gaming is readily available. Online casino gaming companies will partner with a sporting team for advertising opportunities and fans will see changes to the uniforms, banners, etc.
Fans are usually fine with such partnerships as the changes are usually minor. However, a recent announced by Leeds United has fans up in arms, not happy at all with the changes to the team based on the latest sponsor addition.
32Red was announced as the new shirt sponsor for Leeds United and fans are seeing red. The online casino’s company logo will be placed on the front of the team’s playing kit beginning next season and players are far from happy. Fans of Leeds are not too fond of the color red due to the color’s connection with Manchester United, the old enemy of Leeds.
To gain support of Leeds fans, 32Red has announced that the logo will be blue. However, some fans are still having trouble seeing the word red placed on the shirts for the team. Paul Bell, the Executive Director of Leeds, commented on the three year deal, stating that the team is delighted to announce the three year sponsorship deal with 32Red PLC, the premier online casino entertainment brand in the UK.
The team is excited over the partnership and opportunities that will arise in the future. Bell called 32Red a modern and forward-thinking brand that has a long-standing and successful history with sponsorships of high-profile teams within the sport of football. The company looks forward to building a strong relationship between the brands.
Once the announcement was made, fans of Leeds went crazy. Most seemed to be worried that the color red would be on the jerseys since 32Red is a red themed online casino. Many also had a problem with the word red being on the jerseys. Others commented that the color should at least be blue to show that research had been done of the team.
32Red will be able to have their brand highly visible with the new sponsorship, having their shares go up almost 13% after the announcement of the sponsorship deal was made. Group trading remains strong and the partnership will give the brand access to the global fan base of the historic Leeds team.
Ed War is the Chief Executive for 32Red who stated that the brand is delighted to be working with Leeds United football club, a true giant of English football with an amazing and passionate fan base. War went on to state that 32Red has a proud history of successful sponsorship deals with football clubs and the new opportunity to work with Leeds is fantastic and will help to showcase the 32Red brand. The online gaming company looks forward to their association with Leeds United in the coming seasons.
The brands of 32Red include their online casino known as 32Red.com, 32Red Sport, 32Red Poker, 32Red Bingo and Roxy Palace. Content of the gaming brand can be found in desktop and mobile platforms.
The first nineteen weeks of 2016, up until May 11th, saw 32Red’s like-for-like net gaming revenues increase by 39% when compared to the same time frame last year. A contribution from Roxy Palace was up 71%. The board of the 32Red brand are very pleased with the strong trading momentum and is confident that expectations for the year will be delivered.
