I8.Bet, describing itself as the safest and most convenient sports betting platform in Asia, has inked a partnership deal with the Everton FC from Britain’s Premier League. 

I8.Bet’s Branding to be Displayed Across the Goodison Park Stadium

The agreement will establish i8.Bet as Everton’s official sports betting partner in Asia. This, in turn, will see i8.Bet’s logo displayed across Everton’s home stadium, Goodison Park, during matchdays. The betting operator’s branding will also be prominently featured across the soccer club’s online platforms in Asia. Furthermore, i8.Bet will be allowed to use the imagery of the soccer club’s members for advertisements. 

This deal won’t be the first time Everton has worked together with a betting operator. The club previously had a sponsorship deal with the Liverpool-headquartered gambling company SportPesa. However, this partnership didn’t end well, with Everton eventually pulling out of the deal prematurely because of a change in its commercial strategy, vision and growth plans. 

This time, according to Everton, the i8.Bet partnership is fully in line with the team’s growth strategy, mostly because it will further its reach into the Asian market. 

The Deal Shows the Operator’s Intentions of Always “Choosing the Best”

The chief marketing officer of i8.Bet, Darren Wang, spoke about the deal. Wang revealed that a fundamental philosophy of the operator is to always “choose the best.” The deal with Everton FC is exactly what the operator sought when deciding to team with a sports club. Wang said:

“We are excited to exclusively partner with such an iconic Premier League team as Everton Football Club, a partnership that will see us working with the club on a number of exciting and innovative initiatives and promotions in key brand territories in support of our ongoing brand expansion and trust-building efforts.”

f i8.Bet chief marketing officer Darren Wang,

Everton FC has previously demonstrated its intentions of expanding its brand internationally through strategic and carefully-chosen partnerships with operators. Around the end of 2020, the team partnered with Rushbet.co in order to gain influence on the Colombian market. 

Everton FC’s decision to orientate its gambling deals towards other regions may be clever as anti-gambling activists across the Western world have been increasingly vocal in their disgruntlement, with many pointing out that the soccer seasons bring about a spike in gambling harm. 

In the United Kingdom, where Everton is based, the Scottish politician Ruth Davidson spoke against the gambling ads during soccer games, citing that one regular-season game may see an operator’s logo displayed as many as 700 times. Spain, on the other hand, introduced tough gambling ad restrictions, demonstrating that many people in Europe are heavily opposed to such advertisements.