The first sponsorship deal of its kind in the United States
PartyPoker has recently came back to the market it once dominated and while it is only limited to one state for now, it is already looking to get US citizens familiar with the brand. The company has made a huge sponsorship deal with two of the biggest professional sports franchises in the United States – the Philadelphia 76ers from the NBA and the New Jersey Devils from the NHL. It is the first partnership of its kind between an US sports team and an online gambling company.
The official announcement will be made on Thursday afternoon but the deal was already confirmed by the CEO of the NJ Devils and the 76ers on Wednesday. According to the information offered by Scott O’Neil, the sponsorship deal will be for several years and will focus on television and radio advertising as well as other promoting campaigns meant to educate people on the steps needed to set up a PartyPoker account.
For now, PartyPoker is limited to New Jersey and only players located within state borders can access the online poker room and casino options. Its partnership with Atlantic City casino operator Borgata is already starting to make waves in the state as the Party/Borgata poker network has more than half of the traffic in New Jersey. With other big states showing interest in online gambling, PartyPoker is already looking to grow in the newly regulated US market.
PartyPoker picking up speed
The two franchises were purchased by Josh Harris last year and they chose PartyPoker after talking to different operators in the online gambling market of New Jersey. Although the gambling sites officially went live on late November, the response over the first few months was very good and PartyPoker certainly established itself as one of the leaders. This made it the perfect candidate for the sponsorship deal and the big sports brands combined with one of the most popular iGaming brands in the world can be very good for both sides.
PartyPoker is owned by bwin.party – one of the largest online gambling operators in the world, established in Europe – and it had a shirt sponsorship deal with Real Madrid for six years, but the company was forced to terminate it in order to tighten the belt last year. Instead, bwin.party focused on the social sports betting offer and has made online-only agreements with other major European football clubs, such as Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Juventus.
The official figures for the online gambling industry in New Jersey will not be released until January 14, but reports show that PartyPoker is by far the most dominant operator in the online poker segment. With a bigger marketing punch now offered by the deal with the 76ers and the Devils, PartyPoker is expected to grow even bigger and get a very good position for the expected increase of online poker in the US.
Its main competitor in New Jersey is Caesars Entertainment, which launched an online poker room based on the WSOP brand in Nevada before going live in the Garden State. Its figures are significantly lower than those of PartyPoker and the marketing gloves seem to be coming off.
A good deal for the 76ers and the Devils
As far as the Philadelphia 76ers are concerned, they haven’t been having a very good time this season, having a 12-23 record as of now and ranking last in the Atlantic Division. A run in the playoffs is out of question for Philly this season but the new sponsorship deal with PartyPoker can mean more money for the struggling team.
The New Jersey Devils aren’t so hot either as they have 43 points and rank sixth in the Metropolitan Division. However, both pro sports franchises have a long history and a huge fan base, which should mean that PartyPoker will get a lot of advertising.
