Sportsbet.io extends Southampton shirt sponsorship to 2024
Soccer -
08 Apr 2021
Southampton, of English soccer’s top-tier Premier League, have extended their main partnership with the Coingaming Group, a cryptocurrency gaming-based firm, in a three-year deal.
The extension, which Southampton have called “the biggest sponsorship deal in the club’s history”, means that the Sportsbet.io bitcoin brand from the Coingaming stable will remain the Saints’ front-of-shirt sponsor until the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
It is understood the deal is worth around £7.5 million ($9.85 million) per season to the south coast club.
The club has said that as an additional feature of the extension, there is the option for it to be paid any bonuses, from Coingaming, in Bitcoin at the end of each season, “if [Southampton] feels it will bring significant future benefits.”
Sportsbet.io has been Southampton's shirt sponsor since last summer when it succeeded LD Sports, the Chinese sports and marketing platform, whose three-year deal was terminated after just one season.
LD Sports walked away from the partnership partly because of the political tensions between China and the UK, as well as over investment concerns due to ongoing uncertainties around the coronavirus pandemic. The Chinese brand was also understood to have been paying £7.5 million per year.
David Thomas, chief commercial officer at Southampton, said: “In a short timeframe [Coingaming] have proven to be innovative, forward thinking and extremely supportive… and we’ve welcomed the opportunity to develop and promote safe gambling messages together. As such they have become valued partners and we look forward to the next chapter together.”
Maarja Part, chief executive of the Coingaming Group, added: “Our first season as Southampton’s main club partner has already exceeded all expectations… It was an easy decision for us to extend our partnership.”
Southampton currently lie 13th in the 2021-21 Premier League table.
In January this year, the Saints unveiled Danish brand Hummel as their next kit supplier in a five-year deal from 2021-22, having reached agreement with rivals Under Armour to end a contract two years early.
The partnership with Under Armour dates back to 2016 when the USA-based brand signed a seven-year deal running to 2023.
However, Southampton said it had been mutually agreed to end the tie-up as result of a “shift in marketing strategies” at the company.
