Evoke CEO: Now is the “right time” for William Hill to sponsor Scottish football
Per Widerström talks up new partnership as SPFL CEO reveals three gambling firms made the final shortlist of potential title sponsors
Evoke CEO Per Widerström has said William Hill’s partnership with the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) marks the “right time” for the firm to return to the forefront of sports sponsorship.
Speaking as part of a trade press conference to activate the partnership, along with EPIC Global Solutions, the Swede said the deal formed part of the repositioning of the Hills brand.
Hills and the SPFL sealed the “record-breaking” five-year deal in June, which will also see EPIC deliver a multi-year support programme on gambling-related harm awareness for all 42 professional Scottish clubs.
As a result of the deal, Hills will become the title sponsor of all top four divisions of Scottish football, as well as the official betting partner of the SPFL.
The partnership sees the brand return to Scottish football after it terminated its near-decade-long deal with the Scottish FA in 2020.
When asked why the business had elected to push marketing spend back into Scotland, Widerström said: “We are doing a complete reset and a transformation of the company. Evoke includes the great brands of William Hill and 888, as you know. And as part of that, we have been very clear that we need to be more distinct when it comes to our brands.
“For example, William Hill, to be consistent to the brand position, making sure that the vision [is to] make sure that life is more interesting.”
He added: “If you look at the investments we do now, the partnership we do here for the SPFL, it’s amazing. I mean first and foremost, it’s the right time because we are revamping the company. We are revamping the William Hill brand. If you look at the SPFL, which is amazing, the number one, most supported league in Europe in terms of per capita.
“The passion, the love for football; we very much share. In particular, when we look at the William Hill brand, and also when we look at the viewership – that is increasing also on the back of the investment by Sky.
“So, I think it’s the right time for the company. I think it’s a fantastic partnership that we have ahead of us.”
SPFL CEO Neil Doncaster revealed that after the league went to market for the sponsorship deal when online car retailer Cinch ended its partnership two years early, the final three proposals were all from gambling companies.
He added that Hills was an “obvious fit” as he hailed its “huge heritage” in Scottish football.
In addition, Doncaster said that the reception among Scottish football fans to the deal had been a welcome one, given the continued furore around betting sponsorship at the highest level of the game.
He said: “Scottish football fans are not slow in coming forward when they’ve got a point of view. I get a lot of emails from fans who have a view on many, many things pertaining to Scottish football. I have had very few, if any, emails on this partnership with William Hill and that that probably tells you quite a lot.
“I think there is an overwhelming feeling that you know William Hill [is] a much-loved brand. If you look at what they did previously with the Scottish Cup, that partnership worked extremely well, and they demonstrated that they were a proper supporter of Scottish football.”
He concluded: “I think people for the most part absolutely welcome their investment in and support of Scottish football.”