The global brands in sport, such as Manchester United, are, like everyone else, feeling the affects of the world financial crisis. Recently the number of selective sponsorships with Australian sporting bodies has surged, and gambling turnover has risen.
The brewer CUB is poised to announce its continuing relationship with Cricket Australia, and corporate bookmakers are scrambling to sponsor race meetings and football clubs. Cricket's one-day interstate competition, the Ford Ranger Cup, and the Weet-Bix Sheffield Shield have begun, and the VB test team is touring India.
Somewhere in that frothy mix of an ever-expanding cricket calendar and splash of logos, including the coming 3 Mobile test series in Australia, is a further opportunity for CUB.
A Cricket Australia spokesman said: "We have had a long and successful relationship with CUB, since 1996, and look forward to it continuing." Translation: We'll make the announcement at a strategic time.
The effect of the world's financial crisis on sport has been blurred in Australia by the coincidence of the start of the Spring Racing Carnival and the relaxation of inter-state advertising bans on Darwin-based corporate bookmakers, revealed in the Herald last month.
"It's party time," says Gerard Daffy of Lasseters Sports.
"There are more than 40 online bookmakers, and since the relaxation on advertising restrictions there have been phone calls between them and almost every football club in Australia.
"The sports have exhausted the traditional avenues of sponsorship, and now the door is open for fresh money to pour in."
Daffy reports a 5 to 10 per cent increase in turnover since the worldwide stockmarket plunge, saying: "We are very small but there is no evidence of [an imminent] fall in turnover.
"The Aussie mentality has always been that when it gets tough, the best opportunity is to back a winner."
Centrebet, the big Darwin operator that first tested the cross-border restrictions which were in effect removed 10 days ago with a joint announcement by the NSW and Victorian Governments, reports a surge in betting as a result of their sponsorships, particularly with the A-League team the Newcastle Jets.
Centrebet's head of marketing, Luke Brill, says: "We printed a flyer offering 100 free tickets to see the Jets play, with entry into the stadium [through] a Centrebet plastic card committing them to a $5 bet. We've seen a massive [rise] in subscriptions and punting in the Newcastle area.
"We're in talks with all the racetracks, particularly with Flemington, Moonee Valley and Caufield, regarding significant sponsorships. We're also looking at another A-League team, Melbourne Victory and AFL clubs."
Centrebet's hopes of executing a three-year naming rights sponsorship with the Western Bulldogs have been blocked by the AFL's deals with Betfair and Tabcorp, in the same way the NRL barred the premiers the Sea Eagles from a $1 million big sponsorship with another online agency.
"Since we've advertised, user numbers have increased. We've actually recruited more customers during the global meltdown," Brill says.
Sport is not the only beneficiary of the removal of bans on cross-border promotions and the public's willingness to gamble in recessionary times. Media advertising is expected to soar.
"Of the 40 online bookmakers, 15 to 20 want deals immediately, while the other half are waiting for the footy season," Daffy says, predicting the Herald will be a beneficiary.
"When the league season starts you will have to double the number of pages you give to the NRL, because every page will have a bookie's ad on it."
Brill agrees, saying: "Since the Victorian Government's announcement, we are looking to get Centrebet in The Age as well."
The chief executive of Tasmania's Betfair, Andrew Thwaites, says: "Now that governments have lifted advertising restrictions, we'll be looking to expand our sponsorships."
Betfair, whose challenge in the High Court brought down the advertising barriers, has sponsorships with the AFL, the premiers Hawthorn and the three racing codes in Tasmania, and a product fee licensing relationship with the NRL.
"The global meltdown has so far had no impact," Thwaites said.
"Our business is growing in line with our projections, and we are coming into a strong time in Melbourne with the Spring Racing Carnival."
(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)
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