Norwich City terminates BK8 sponsorship deal after three days
Fan backlash sees club take action after Asian sports betting operator used highly sexualised images of young women in social media promotions
Newly promoted Norwich City has terminated its front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Asian betting operator BK8 after just three days.
BK8 replaced Dafabet as the club’s primary shirt sponsor on 7 June and went live in the UK via a white-label agreement with Malta-based solutions provider Progress Play.
However, shortly after the commercial agreement was announced on the club’s digital channels, images began to emerge of BK8 using highly sexualised images of young women to promote its products on social media.
According to The Athletic, the Instagram account of one BK8 brand ambassador with more than a quarter of a million followers also linked directly to hardcore pornography.
This would contravene UK marketing restrictions as laid out by the Advertising Standards Authority and led to an almost immediate backlash from Canaries fans.
More than 100 complaints were sent to the club, including video statements from official supporter groups calling on the club to cut ties with the betting company.
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The Canaries Trust are very pleased to hear this morning that the BK8 deal with Norwich City FC has been cancelled. We are pleased that the club listened to the concerns of supporters across the board on this issue. pic.twitter.com/gejqUmX6Xe— The Canaries Trust (@canariestrust) June 10, 2021
The club conceded and issued an official statement on 10 June. It said: “On this occasion, we got it wrong. For that, and any offence caused, the club apologises.
“We remain highly committed to diversity and equality across our football club and its community.
“We want to continue to embed a highly inclusive culture across the club, together with an accessible and welcoming environment free of demeaning and discriminatory behaviours.”
Norwich is now searching for a new front-of-shirt sponsor ahead of the 2021-22 season with the original BK8 deal thought to have been worth somewhere in the region of £5m.
BK8 was the club’s third consecutive gambling sponsor after LeoVegas and Dafabet.