Bet365 secures Stoke City's stadium naming rights

Bet365 has struck a six-year stadium naming rights deal with Stoke City which will see the club’s home ground re-named the bet365 Stadium from the start of next season.

The operator will replace current stadium sponsor Britannia while bet365 has extended its shirt sponsorship deal with the Premier League club for a further three years.

Stoke City is owned by the Coates family, with siblings Denise and John joint-chief executives of the Stoke-headquartered online gambling operator.

“There’s no doubt bet365 has benefitted enormously from the global exposure our shirt sponsorship agreement with the club has given us,” John Coates (pictured, right), bet365 joint-chief executive and Stoke City vice-chairman, said.

“We have been looking to extend our portfolio of sports sponsorship and entering into a stadium naming rights agreement with Stoke City seemed a natural fit, especially as the city of Stoke-on-Trent is home to bet365.

“We are looking forward to what we hope will be a successful future for both the club and bet365 with both organisations working closely together,” he added.

The selling of stadium rights has been a tactic increasingly employed by football clubs to generate additional revenues and today’s deal sees bet365 become the first operator to become headline sponsor of a team’s ground.

However, some bookmakers do have football stands bearing their name, such as the Betway Stand at West Ham United’s Upton Park and Norwich City’s Barclay Stand sponsored by Coral.