bwin Adds Olympique de Marseille as Official Partner

August 9, 2013

Olympique de Marseille (OM) and bwin.party have formed a partnership that sees the bwin brand become OM’s official online betting and gaming partner in a three-year deal.

The deal will boost bwin’s presence in France, order having already announced similar deals with other European football teams such as Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Juventus and RSC Anderlecht.

The sponsorship package includes a series of fan-based initiatives including opportunities to train with the squad and travel to Champions League fixtures; integration into OM’s digital and social platforms; the development of on and off-line co-branded activities; stadium branding and; access to players for marketing campaigns.

Lique 1, France’s top tier of football, is receiving increased international attention with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Monaco spending millions on big name players.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, bwin Head of Sponsorship Daniele Sano said: “The increased attention on Lique 1 from outside of France is definitely a positive for us.

“However it did not have any particular influence on our decision to enter the French market or to choose a top club.

“We had a very strong interest to enter the French market. If you look at our sponsorship portfolio in the past, France has been the only key market where we have not had a local deal.

“We decided OM was the right partner mainly because their fan base is definitely the most interesting one in France, even if people may think PSG has the bigger following. That is not true, it’s OM. They are definitely the bigger club with the biggest following in France.”

Unparalleled offers

Norbert Teufelberger, bwin’s CEO agreed with Sano and was pleased to add another big club to the firm’s sponsorship package.

“We are proud to establish this partnership with OM, one of the oldest and most successful clubs in France and Europe,” said Teufelberger. “Today’s announcement means that we are now partnered with six of the greatest clubs in European football, enabling us to offer our customers an unparalleled range of online and real world offers.”

Philippe Perez, general manager of Olympique de Marseille added:“With bwin, we’re also playing the Champions League in terms of partnerships.

“We’d like to thank Norbert Teufelberger for the trust he has put in our club and we are sure that our fans will be pleased with the faith bwin has placed in us.”

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