Stoke City: bet365 put their shirts on Stoke City
INTERNET gambling giants bet365 are Stoke City's new shirt sponsors after agreeing a substantial seven-figure deal with the club.
The Coates family, who are the majority shareholders of both bet365 and Stoke City, have agreed a deal which will see the club's shirts carry the company's name and logo for the next three years.
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Potteries-based bet365, who announced annual profits of £91.2m in the 12 months to March last year, become the ninth company to sponsor Stoke's shirt since advertising was first permitted in the 1980s.
Denise Coates, daughter of Stoke City chairman Peter Coates and joint chief executive of bet365, said: "We are delighted to have reached an agreement to become Stoke City's shirt sponsors.
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"It is a perfect fit for us as a Stoke-on-Trent-based company with a global reach and international markets.
"It also further demonstrates our long-term commitment to the club."
Today's news ends Britannia's 15-year shirt sponsorship with Stoke.
They have sponsored both the club's stadium and shirt since Stoke moved from the Victoria Ground in 1997. Their stadium deal is due to run until 2016.
The two parties signed a four-year extension to their shirt deal in 2009 which was worth £4m and due to run until 2013.
Only last September, Co-operative Financial Services, which took over the Britannia Building Society two years ago, said there were no plans to remove Britannia's name from Stoke's shirt or stadium.
However, the remaining 12 months of their shirt deal has been terminated, and the firm will now become the club's banking and community partner for an initial two seasons.
Today's announcement also opens up the intriguing possibility of Stoke's HQ one day being re-christened the bet365 Arena.
Welcoming the bet365 and Britannia announcements, Stoke chief executive Tony Scholes, said: "The club is already hugely indebted to the support from bet365 and its owners, the Coates family.
"While Britannia and the Co-operative Group focus more on local and national markets, bet365, who are the largest private sector employers in the area, operate on a global basis.
"This agreement with bet365 means we have been able to maximise the international element of the club's exposure.
"We received a number of offers from potential sponsors, but bet365 were the highest bidders."
Barry Tootell, chief executive of the Co-operative Bank, added: "Our relationship with Stoke City is very special. North Staffordshire is a key trading area for the whole of the Co-operative Group.
"Developing our involvement with the club's community programme is a natural fit for our Co-operative businesses because it is extremely important for us to support areas in which we trade."
GLENN Whelan and Jon Walters have been named in the Republic of Ireland's 23-man squad for next month's European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Peter Crouch, Robert Huth and Ryan Shawcross head those players competing for Stoke City's coveted player-of-the-year trophy at the club's annual awards dinner at the King's Hall this evening.
Comments
by Davejjohnson
Wednesday, May 09 2012, 9:17PM
“What Dave Johnson actually said Hadis was "Who cares if it's a way of sneaking cash into Stoke City via the back door so long as it works". We know EUFA care but if it's an attempt to exploit a loophole in Stokes favour then it's OK by me. That was the very simple point I was making, God it's not rocket science. Do you seriously think that this fair play thing is going to work ? Do you really think that the Arabs won't find a loophole so that they can keep pumping money into Man City. Get real, Man City's generated income probably won't even cover their wage bill.”
by bilko31
Wednesday, May 09 2012, 1:56PM
“Definition of gambling:- The act of getting nothing for something. On line gambling is a curse.”
by Hadis53
Wednesday, May 09 2012, 1:29PM
“Davejohnson asks: 'Who cares if it's a way of sneaking cash into Stoke City via the back door'.
Errr...UEFA do. That's the whole point of the financial fair play rules.”
by timbstoke
Wednesday, May 09 2012, 12:39PM
“@leglessharry - no "on the cheap" about it - quite the opposite I'd have thought. Think about it - until now, it made sense to have Britannia sponsor the strip to provide an extra revenue stream - Coates and bet365 would be in the wings to inject extra funds should it be necessary. The new Financial Fair Play rules mean they can't just do that anymore, the have to be an actual revenue stream if they want to put cash in. I'd imagine bet365 are paying quite a bit over the odds for sponsorship, to make sure the money is in Stoke City should it be needed.”
by DJ_Stoke
Tuesday, May 08 2012, 11:01PM
“I like the away strip, the new anniversary badge detail is pretty cool. Wonder if they will do anything commerative with the home strip. I know the children size shirts won't have the bet365 logo at all....”
by deadlyscfc
Tuesday, May 08 2012, 10:51PM
“Could have been the Indian chicken lickers”
by Davejjohnson
Tuesday, May 08 2012, 9:37PM
“Who cares if it's a way of sneaking cash into Stoke City via the back door so long as it works. Many years ago I met Peter Coates briefly and spent 10 minutes talking to him about Stoke City and he's a real fan just like many of us. His enthusiasm was obvious, why do you think he came back after all the grief he got in the past. Rather have him than a bunch of Arabs any day.”
by yamerama
Tuesday, May 08 2012, 7:52PM
“Apparently Mohammed Choudry was in the bidding too, also offering a seven figure sum. What scuppered it was where he put the decimal point...”
by mrdoulton
Tuesday, May 08 2012, 6:45PM
“ah well who cares........”
by deadlyscfc
Tuesday, May 08 2012, 5:33PM
“In theory is Peter Coates the owner therefore the deal should be ok,as it is his daughter that owns bet 365 is it not.”