bet365 signs Stoke City sponsorship deal

14May 2012

bet365

Fresh from becoming the UK's largest privately-owned online casino and sportsbook operator with annual revenues for last year of £501 million, bet365 has announced a new sponsorship deal with English Premier League football club Stoke City.

The seven-figure agreement will see the bet365 name and logo emblazoned upon the soccer team's home and away shirts for the next three years replacing financial services firm Britannia.

"We are delighted to have reached an agreement to become Stoke City's shirt sponsor," said Denise Coates, Joint Chief Executive Officer for bet365.

"It is a perfect fit for us as a Stoke-on-Trent-based company with a global reach and international markets to become shirt sponsor of our local English Premier League club. "This builds upon the extensive sponsorship, LED and advertising we are already committed to at many English Premier League clubs and within the sports industry in general. It also further demonstrates our long-term commitment to the club."

Britannia has sponsored Stoke City's shirts for the past 15 years and signed a four-year extension worth a total of four million pounds in 2009. However, this deal was cancelled a year early in September by new parent firm Co-Operative Financial Services with the former mutual building society now set to serve as the club's banking and community partner for an initial two seasons.

"The club is already hugely indebted to the support from bet365 and its owners, the Coates family," said Tony Scholes, Chief Executive Officer for Stoke City, which is owned by the founder of bet365, Peter Coates.

"While Britannia and the Co-Operative Group focus more on local and national markets, bet365, who is the largest private sector employers in the area, operates on a global basis.

"This agreement with bet365 means we have been able to maximise the international element of the club's exposure. We received a number of offers from potential sponsors but bet365 was the highest bidder arguably further underlining its commitment to the club."