BetStars hires Wayne Bridge to kick off ‘Big Call’ campaign
Snooker legend Stephen Hendry also signed up to join the Amaya-owned sportsbook’s social media video strategy
BetStars has hired former England international footballer Wayne Bridge to kick off the Amaya-owned sportsbook brand’s new ‘Big Call’ marketing campaign.
Bridge is the first of a series of ambassadors to join the new social media video campaign, with snooker legend Stephen Hendry the next sportsperson to be put on the spot ahead of the World Snooker Championships.
Zeno Ossko, managing director of BetStars, said: “At BetStars we don’t sit on the fence, we celebrate bold opinions and those willing to make big calls.
“We are connecting social media users with some of their favourite sporting idols, the people best placed to share genuine sports insight ahead of the year’s biggest and best betting events.
“We’re proud to be partnering with a number of champions from various sporting disciplines for our ‘Big Call’ as we work to continuously enhance the experience of BetStars customers and increase brand awareness amongst those with a passion for sport.”
The launch of the new campaign comes after Amaya recently denied rumours it planned to cease working with top sporting figures as part of a switch to its marketing strategy.
The rumours were sparked after Amaya sent an email to affiliates telling them to stop using marketing assets featuring footballers Neymar and Ronaldo.
“As the world’s leading poker brand we’re always looking to broaden our reach of who we work with to deliver on our goal of growing the game globally,” a spokesperson told EGR Intel.
“Sometimes that’s going to be with athletes, sometimes celebrities, and sometimes professional players.
“There is no change of strategy, we simply emailed our affiliates to let them know we were swapping out our latest advertising campaign and unfortunately it has been blown out of proportion.”
Last month, EGR revealed Amaya had hired William Hill group director of strategy and corporate development, Robin Chhabra, to lead the Canadian operator’s ongoing M&A efforts.
CEO Rafi Ashkenazi had previously told Bloomberg he would be hiring someone to focus on M&A, with the “highest priority” on sports betting.