Breweries, consumer loans, FOREX, videogames and Public Gaming ... the great beneficiaries of restricting sports sponsorships to the online bookmakers

In two previous articles published in recent days on InfoPlay, we immersed ourselves in the reality of sportsbook sponsorships in sports:

• First, on the current situation in the sports sponsorship sector.
• The success story of Betway in its sports sponsorship strategy.

And the fact is that the necessary investment in advertising in our sector makes sports sponsorships at this time a very relevant issue, especially on these days of the year when most advertising agreements are traditionally closed and announced in which it is the most decisive showcase for gaming operators in our country: the stadiums and the jerseys of the 20 Santander League teams.

If in a first article, we echoed the success story of Betway in its sponsorship strategy at a global level, and later we dealt with the notorious particularities that are presented this season 20-21 in terms of sponsorship, now we want to present the notorious dilemma that It is going to be presented in the imminent 2020-2021 sports season -with the benefit of the doubt generated by not yet having the final version of the Royal Decree on Commercial Communications of Gambling Activities-, which is none other than verifying which sectors benefit from the departure of bookmakers from this reality of so much weight in the marketing budget of the operators.

And as we will see, the options we are considering should not reassure the groups that - with such stubbornness - have shown themselves against the visibility of online gaming brands in sport.

1- The always present alcohol, through beer

With the entry into force in 2012 of the law that prevented the advertising of drinks with more than 20 degrees of graduation from being visible in venues and sporting events, the breweries were released, receiving the explicit support of the then president of the Council Superior of Sports, Miguel Cardenal, who recognized the "valuable role of this sector in supporting elite and grassroots sports".

Historically, the brewers have always been present in sponsorships as relevant as those that linked Carlserbeg with Liverpool FC in the Premier League or the two staunch rivals of Buenos Aires, Boca Juniors and River Plate, in both cases wearing the Quilmes brand.

But it is currently, at a time when this sector seeks to be associated with healthy lifestyles and where light beer or non-alcoholic beer compete in sales with the traditional one; it is rare to see an elite European football team that has given up on promoting a beer brand.

In Spain the examples are numerous with Estrella Damm, Estrella Galicia, Cruzcampo or San Miguel; in addition to the case of Budweiser, sponsor of the LFP (Professional Football League). And outside our borders, it is enough to remember Heineken and its millionaire support for the Champions League.

So we consider these brands to be in the first line in terms of "getting a slice" of the goodbye of bookmaker advertising. And all this, when unlike the studies related to the game, it is found that advertising with advertisements or sponsorships of these beer brands clearly encourages the consumption of alcohol ...

If we take into account that approximately 20% of all current sports sponsorships are for beverage brands of this time, we should understand the concern that should be had for an increase - however minimal - in the visibility of these brands.

2- FOREX and the sector of the management of leveraged products

It goes without saying that in this section we are not referring to traditional banking, or to online consumer credit operators -which we will deal with in the next point- but to those companies that, mainly located in locations such as Cyprus, offer the possibility of operating in financial markets related to currencies, raw materials and even "bet" on products such as Binary Options. And they also do it by promoting investment in leveraged products, that is, they allow you to manage more money than you really have. A danger as the financial authorities constantly warn!

This has been a sector that has also relied on sport in the past, but which is currently also stepping on the accelerator at the same time that many regulatory bodies point out to a large part of these operators as authentic "financial scammers".

The rise of cryptocurrencies has also served to make these companies more fashionable than Forexmart, Easymarkets (sponsor of Real Betis last season) or especially the giant Plus500 (main sponsor of Atlético de Madrid and recently announcing a similar agreement with Atalanta, one of the revelation teams in Europe this year) and which joins a strong presence in European clubs such as BSC Young Boys in Bern and Legia in Warsaw.

3- Online consumer credits

Although for decades there have been banking entities promoting specific products such as mortgages or loans in sports - even specialized entities at the local level have a long history of sports sponsorships, for example the Asturian Financial Union and its support for Oviedo Basketball - is the emerging sector of online consumer loans, which is aimed at sports sponsorship as a formula to get customers and social prestige.

And in this case, we refer to the success story of Cofidis, which made cycling its letter of introduction so that there would be social approval of a brand that since 1997 has had a professional cycling team, thus becoming the gateway to the advertising of this class of companies in sport.

The inheritance of that initial investment in cycling by Cofidis has been perpetuated in sponsorships such as the Vuelta Ciclista a España, or its support to the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) and the creation of the Cofidis Paralympic Promises Team of the Cycling from the hand of the Spanish Paralympic Committee and the RFEC.

Also to remember the role of these companies in sport, there will be one of the activation actions of Creditea in its stage of sponsoring Rayo Vallecano: "Barrio de Fútbol", an initiative in which sport was "closer to" fans of one of the most active neighborhoods in the neighborhood cause against physical betting houses.

4- Videogames

Another sector that has been closely connected to sport, especially football, has been video games. At the time of the giants Nintendo and Sega, their sponsorship of football teams such as Fiorentina (Italian Serie A) and Arsenal FC (English Premier League) marked an era, being able to compete in the millionaire amounts that were beginning to be paid for occupying the frontal space in the team jerseys.

Later, with the arrival of the internet and the appearance of the great sports video game titles such as Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer or EA Sports' FIFA, these sponsorships continued to stand out in the main football leagues.

But present and future are also marked by games in mobile format, applications and all kinds of gaming segments such as social games or eSports, as has been demonstrated by Playtika's agreement with Sevilla CF, which is the sponsor immediately preceding the current (the Marathon Bet bookmaker).

5- Public Lotteries

And, logically, we cannot forget the presence of public gambling bodies. And it is from the quintessential example of the spanish SELAE (State Lottery and Betting Society of the State), which for some time has expanded its significant investment in professional football to promote La Quiniela, for example to also get involved in promoting its own brand in many other shop windows with sport as the protagonist: SELAE announces several sports sponsorships for the coming season,

A reality that is also marked by a strategic change in the messages, leaving aside the altruistic and social component to focus on constant calls for a change and improvement in social status. With this approach and with the sports consumer being the target audience for their campaigns, much of the social approval of public games is explained.



Despite the arguments with which we have accompanied this list, we do not yet know if the dreaded "apocalypse" will come regarding a total ban on the promotion of gambling operators in the world of sport; but we do begin to show the positioning of the aforementioned sectors in the media traditionally associated with sport and in social networks ...

It is enough to listen to one of the radio sports programs in the "live matches coverage" format or any sports gathering to see that, in addition to the obvious presence of gaming operators (poker, casino and especially sports betting), the announcements about "changing our life" thanks to the Lottery, get quick money, refresh ourselves with an alcoholic drink, test our ability to buy and sell currencies or enjoy the most realistic video games on the market, are more than common. And we believe that all this is going to go further.