Anyone who’s watched live football in the past two decades will know that gaming sponsors are a key part of the industry. In the Premier League alone, eight out of the twenty clubs have gaming companies as their shirt sponsor, and that’s not even counting clubs that have stadium deals, sleeve sponsors, or advertising board deals.
One of those eight clubs is West Ham. They partnered with UK gaming site Betway back in 2015, making them their official ‘front-of-shirt’ sponsor. Football clubs bring significant visibility to gaming platforms, similar to how the best NZ online casinos listed on this site attract their audiences with high-profile promotions. It’s clear that bookmakers value the eyes that football clubs bring to their products, but how exactly do they use West Ham United’s imagery to attract customers?
Shirt Sponsorships
In football, there is nothing more iconic than a club’s kit. It represents a team’s identity and is instantly recognisable, even from a distance. Any self-respecting football fan would be able to tell the difference between a Manchester United red and a Liverpool red and would spot the claret and blue shirt of a West Ham fan from a mile off.
Since shirt sponsorships began in the 1950s, we’ve seen plenty of iconic kits that are remembered by fans for the synergy of the shirt design and their sponsor. Images of the ‘Sharp’ Man United kit of the 90s, the ‘JVC’ Arsenal kit of the early 2000s, and the ‘Thomas Cook’ Man City shirt of the late 2000s are all burned into the brains of their fans, with the sponsors occupying a pivotal role in those memories.
Companies such as Betway are looking for this kind of recognition and association when they sponsor the shirt of a team like West Ham. They hope that in a few years, fans will remember the classic ‘Betway’ West Ham shirt, allowing their sponsorship to stay relevant long after the deal has concluded.
It’s not just the future that Betway is planning for, sponsoring the shirt of a Premier League team is arguably the best way to get eyeballs onto your brand. Millions of people tune in to watch their games every week, with the sponsor’s logo front and centre every time a player celebrates a goal. These companies also benefit from fan purchases; in the 22/23 season, West Ham sold over 320,000 shirts, providing Betway with walking advertisements up and down the country.
Social Media Campaigns
One of the major benefits of partnering with a major football club such as West Ham is that gaming companies can use the club’s imagery in their social media campaigns. Using the West Ham logo in a post on websites such as X or Instagram increases its reach, as the algorithm will show the content to users with an interest in the football club.
Betway regularly uses its association with West Ham to increase its legitimacy, proudly displaying the club’s logo and sponsorship status on the homepage of its website. As a bonus, Betway also gets a space on the West Ham United website, allowing fans of the club to learn more about the company through its sponsorship page.
Having such a close relationship with West Ham gives Betway access to the club’s players for its marketing campaigns. Having players play an active role in Betway’s marketing content helps engage fans with the company and attract even more eyeballs to the campaign.
We’ve seen several examples of this during Betway’s partnership with West Ham, including this video where they put first-team players Pablo Zabaleta, Aaron Cresswell, Pedro Obiang, and Ashley Fletcher through a unique training session:
As well as this YouTube video where they recreate the hit TV show Gogglebox with a selection of first-team players as well as club legends and TV presenters:
Special Football Tournaments
One of the most prominent marketing efforts featuring the West Ham brand is the Betway Cup. This special preseason event sponsored by Betway was created in 2015, the same year that Betway began sponsoring the club. West Ham hosts the event at their London Stadium, and the club competes in a one-off match against one of Europe’s top sides for a trophy.
Many preseason friendlies aren’t viewed by fans as they’re seen as uncompetitive, which, for the most part, is true. These games are designed to help players get up to speed for the new season, and outside the chance of seeing a team’s latest signing for the first time, there’s little motivation for a fan to watch them. This means there aren’t enough eyeballs on the in-stadium and shirt sponsorships.
To combat this, Betway created this event to bring a competitive edge to preseason. By giving West Ham and a specially selected team a trophy to compete for, the hope is that the games will be more competitive than a regular preseason game, attracting the viewership of more fans.
Fans can buy tickets to this event to watch it in person or watch the game live via the West Ham United official mobile app. More than 27,000 bought tickets to watch the game live and many more watched it from home on the West Ham TV platform, increasing the exposure of the Betway brand.
Conclusion
As you can see, casino companies take full advantage of their partnerships with football clubs such as West Ham to increase the reach of their marketing campaigns. They use plenty of techniques, such as match day sponsorship, VIP game packages, and fan contests, to cement the association between the two brands.
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