Online bookmaker Betway has been named sponsor of the Mutua Madrid Open.

Betway will be sponsoring the men’s and women’s professional tennis tournament, which is part of the ATP and WTA circuits, and showcases some of the world’s best talent at the Caja Mágica.

After the postponement of the 2020 tournament, supporters across the world will once again be able to enjoy competitive tennis action from 30 April to 9 May – a new two week extended running date.

The Madrid Open joins Betway’s growing tennis sponsorship portfolio, which already includes the Miami Open and Estoril Open.

Anthony Werkman, Betway’s CEO said: “We are extremely proud to be announcing our sponsorship of the Mutua Madrid Open.“It demonstrates our strong commitment to sporting events across the globe and we look forward to being part of such a prestigious Tennis tournament.”

Staying with Betway, the operator is also continuing to strengthen its esports sponsorship portfolio. Just last week, Betway extended its partnership with PSG Esports, and earlier in March it renewed its deal with Berlin International Gaming. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Though its great to see organisers are planning to go ahead with the Madrid Open, and allow spectators to attend, we should be cautious. With the rapid emergency of new COVID variants, particularly those first identified in Brazil, threatening to render the vaccination campaigns useless, and many countries now seeing record infections, there is a very real possibility that events like the Madrid Open will face disruption yet again.  

Betting holding and entertainment brand, Parimatch, has released its first video collaboration with South African cricket legend Dale Steyn. 

Widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and the best Test bowler of his generation, “Steyn Gun” as he’s known, has signed an 18-month brand ambassador deal with Parimatch – joining the ranks of other sports legends like Juventus, UFC, Conor McGregor, and Mike Tyson.

To create his first video with Parimatch, Steyn demonstrated his speed and will through six hours of non-stop shooting. The video, produced by Joshua Borill – known for his work with Coca-Cola, Mercedes, and Heineken – involved two production teams carefully observing all the required COVID-19 rules. 

Ivan Liashenko, CMO at Parimatch stated: “We’re putting a lot of attention there to strengthen our brand and invest a lot of resources in order to provide excellent action lines and secure the best odds for sport fans, but that’s not all. Working with Dale, whose name is already in the hall of cricket fame, simply brings us to a new level: evolving from a strong company to trusted brand by invoking fans passion for the Steyn Gun. We’re looking to establish a more emotional connection with fans and enthusiasts, and support the thrill of sports while acknowledging our social responsibility.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Pretty cool stuff from Parimatch and Steyn here, and we’re sure there will be lots more coming. For any Gen-Z’s or non Commonwealth residents out there, Dale’s “Steyn Gun” nickname derives from the British STEN, or Sten gun, submachine gun. 

Multi-channel 24/7 live betting services supplier, SIS (Sports Information Services), is now providing greyhound racing content in Watch and Bet format to LeoVegas. 

In addition to its flagship LeoVegas brand, the deal also covers the supply of exclusive UK and Irish greyhound content to the Sweden-listed operator’s Bet UK and 21.co.uk brands. 

SIS’s Watch and Bet model allows bettors to be able to view live races without the need to have placed a prior bet, driving engagement and incremental revenue. 

Andrew Grimshaw, Digital Sales Manager at SIS, said: “We’re pleased to be partnering with LeoVegas with their rolling out of our high-quality greyhound offering to a number of its operator brands.

“LeoVegas customers can all expect a first-rate betting experience, with this move further confirmation that the Watch and Bet model is becoming more and more important for online operators seeking to increase engagement among their customers.”

Staying with LeoVegas, towards the end of last month, the operator announced a €1.1M euro investment in UK-based gaming technology company SharedPlay. 

Scout Gaming has agreed a software license deal with Interwetten, giving the operator access to its platform and prediction game ahead of EURO 2020. 

Interwetten, which is one of the leading sports betting operators in Germany, Austria, and other markets, says it is beginning integration immediately so that it can offer its customers a feature rich EURO2020 Predictor, based on Scout’s yet to be revealed, enhanced and upgraded Prediction engine. 

The current agreement is limited to a free-to-play application of Scout Gaming’s prediction engine, meanwhile the parties review potential future co-operation involving Scout’s wider product offering.

Commenting on the news, Scout Gaming’s Chief Commercial Officer, Joakim Renman, said: “We are very pleased to welcome one of the leading brands in central Europe. Interwetten is an operator with a strong pedigree, a true veteran in the online betting sphere having been one of the pioneers to online gaming starting already back in the late 90’s. I’m eager to start our work of developing their already market leading sports offering towards ensuring they stay ahead of the competition for many years to come.”

While Head of Product Management, Content and CRM, at Interwetten, Mario Bilic, added: “We have sport in our DNA and Scout Gaming has emerged as an innovative B2B sports supplier with a modern product suite [superior] to anything else we’ve seen in the market. It feels amazing to have secured a partner for new and innovative sports content after having seen an ever increasing interesting from our customers in new ways to engage with sports.”

UK-based esports organisation LDN UTD has teamed up with the world’s largest supplier of sports programming, Matchroom. 

Aimed at bringing together esports and traditional sports, the first stage of the content partnership will feature athletes from the  Professional Darts Corporation alongside players from LDN UTD’s FIFA, League of Legends, Valorant, and Fortnite rosters.  

That will be followed by a regular Matchroom Monday series featuring content across various esports titles, themes, esports players, and traditional athletes, including those from Matchroom Boxing.

Oliver Weingarten, CEO of LDN UTD commented: “The trajectory of esports might not be the obvious direction for Matchroom, but as a sports entertainment business, they’ve recognised the growth of esports, its demographic, and potential to continue to bring new fans to their sports.”

Matthew Porter, Director of Matchroom added: “Esports is the fastest-growing consumer industry, and has only become more prominent during the pandemic. It therefore made sense to align with an esports organisation that wants to grow a community by promoting a healthy lifestyle and social issues. We’re looking forward to showcasing our athletes in a different environment and engaging the community.

AYO.NEWS says:

Given the insane growth of esports and the wider gaming sector, it’s not surprising to see a huge programming supplier like Matchroom realise that it needs to get its foot in the door. And, with the enthusiasm we’ve seen among traditional athletes and sports fans for esports elsewhere, we’re sure there will be no problem creating plenty of engaging content.

The call to ban gambling advertising in Australian sports is getting louder, with the Alliance for Gambling Reform launching a new campaign in the country. 

Chief advocate of the Alliance, the Reverend Tim Costello, has accused the federal government of failing to protect Australians from sports wagering – an industry which has doubled in value over the space of five years, with annual losses now north of AU$1 billion. 

Regarding the situation, Costello said: “We must nip this in the bud right now, and the quickest and easiest way to do so is to end gambling advertising. Other countries have done so, including Italy, because they recognise the harm gambling does, and that it is completely inappropriate to promote it. It’s time Australia did the right thing too.”

However, Costello has also been accused of making an issue out of a problem that doesn’t exist in Australia, with chief executive of gambling industry lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia, Brent Jackson, pointing out that problem gambling rates in the country are falling, and complaints about gambling advertising are at record lows. 

Responsible Wagering Australia currently represents major international bookies including bet365, betfair Exchange, Ladbrokes, neds, Entain, sportsbet, and Unibet, 

Just last week, Aussie rules football club Sydney Swans and pro soccer club Macarthur joined the Reclaim the Game, Be Gamble Aware program, being run by the New South Wales Office of Responsible Gambling, and committed to support the campaign against gambling advertising.

AYO.NEWS says:

As we’ve pointed out many times regarding the situation in countries like the UK, Sweden, Spain, and Italy, in reality this issue is an ideological one. It will make no difference what the gambling industry does in terms of improving responsible gambling measures, or what research and facts it provides to back-up its claims – those against gambling will always keep moving the goalposts until gambling itself is banned.