Betdaq gifts Sunderland shirt sponsorship to charity following GVC no-advertising pledge
Ladbrokes’ Scottish football sponsorships to be split between charitable partners and RG messaging
GVC’s exchange brand Betdaq has gifted its shirt sponsorship of Sunderland FC next year to the Children with Cancer UK charity, following GVC’s pledge to end shirt sponsorships.
Betdaq originally announced the sponsorship in June last year, with the deal scheduled to run through the 2019/20 season.
However, following GVC’s call for a near-total ban on betting adverts around live sport, the Children with Cancer UK charity logo will be displayed on Sunderland shirts next year instead of Betdaq.
Betdaq’s other sponsorship of Charlton Athletic ended this season.
After its parent company, GVC Holdings, announced an end to its football sponsorship programme, #SAFC’s principal partner @BETDAQ has gifted its front-of-shirt presence to the charity @CwC_UK.
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https://t.co/KvMAaCc4EM#NotDoneYet
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) May 21, 2019
In Scotland, Ladbrokes continues to sponsor the SPFL, but GVC said the marketing assets -namely LED pitch side hoardings would be given to a mixture of RG messaging and charitable partners.
The exact details of those partners are still being finalised.
On announcing the sponsorship embargo earlier this month GVC CEO Kenny Alexander said he hoped the rest of the industry would “follow suit”, although the move was criticised in some quarters as self-serving, with GVC having relatively low-exposure to football sponsorships compared to some competitors.
The firm also recently unveiled a new set of TV adverts for Coral despite its pledge, saying: “At the moment the rules of the game are as they are and we have to be competitive.”