Although fans of football clubs across Europe will still argue what’s most important – domestic or continental success, there’s no doubt that the Champions League holds plenty of esteem within the beautiful game.
Competing in – and perhaps winning – a continental competition that dates back decades brings plenty of prestige and prize money, while that famous ‘champions!’ theme song that greets the players onto the pitch still sends shivers down the spine years after its introduction.
Big brands and commercial partners are queuing up to sponsor the competition and get their names attached to it too, so it’s been a monumental day for Bet365; they’ve been revealed as UEFA’s first-ever sports betting partner for the Champions League.
Howdy, Partner
The landmark agreement will be the first time that any gambling operator has had their name officially connected to the Champions League.
No mention has been made of how much Bet365 have had to pay for the privilege, but such commercial partnerships generally reap dividends – especially so for a firm looking to consolidate itself in its existing global markets.
For context, around 450 million viewers in more than 200 countries watch the final of the Champions League alone – four times the average viewership of the Super Bowl. That’s a lot of eyeballs to get your brand in front of.
The agreement will commence this season and run for three years until the end of the 2026/27 campaign, and comes at a time when the Champions League format is being expanded to 36 teams instead of the traditional 32 – meaning more games will be played in the competition, which is good news for Bet365’s investment.
UEFA have confirmed that Bet365’s branding will be showcased on the advertising hoardings around every pitch hosting a Champions League game, as well as on media backdrops and the governing body’s digital and social media channels.
And Bet365 themselves have also promised to coordinate the ‘biggest ticket giveaway’ to fans in the Champions League history.
Great to see the launch of the @bet365 and @ChampionsLeague 3 year sponsorship deal.
The partnership will see @bet365 launch a large-scale ticket giveaway, offering thousands of tickets to fans in select countries for UEFA Champions League matches.https://t.co/qmyxV7JXdx
— Betting and Gaming Council (@BetGameCouncil) August 20, 2024
UEFA’s marketing chief, Guy-Laurent Epstein, said: “We are thrilled to welcome bet365 as an official global sponsor of the UEFA Champions League. We look forward to a successful partnership that not only elevates the experience for our fans but also supports efforts to protect the integrity of the sport.”
Meanwhile, Bet365’s chief marketing officer – Alex Sefton – commented: “As the first sports betting brand to sponsor the UEFA Champions League, we’re delighted to be joining a roster of high-profile premier brand partners at such an exciting time for the competition.”
A New Dawn
Unfortunately, there’s no indication that Bet365 will be offering streaming of Champions League games on their feed for free – the amounts that broadcasters have to pay for the TV rights puts paid to that.
But it wouldn’t be a huge shock if Bet365 ran some price boosts and other promos to coincide with the launch of the revamped Champions League, which gets underway with the opening round of league phase games across September 17-19.
The draw for the competition will be made on August 29, although we do know that each of the 36 teams will play eight games during the league phase – two more than in the group phase of the old Champions League format. Their opponents in those matches will be drawn at random.
ℹ️ New format. New draw.#UCLdraw | #UELdraw | #UECLdraw pic.twitter.com/QKTwVPMhQU
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 20, 2024
All of the 36 teams will be competing in a single league table, with the best eight performing teams getting spirited straight into the knockout phase, which gets underway with a Round of 16.
The rest of the teams that will make up the last 16 are determined from the league phase, where those finishing ninth through to 24th take part in a play-in game. The teams ranked 9th to 16th are seeded and randomly drawn against an opponent that finished 17th to 24th.
The winners of those eight ties, which will be played over two legs home and away, then get put in the Round of 16 bracket against the eight teams that had qualified automatically via the league phase.
Got it? Good. Quite why UEFA have decided to use such a complicated format only they can answer.
But as a consequence of more games being played, they’ll make more money and the clubs involved will as well – hence why there’s no great opposition to the format change.
And the expanded format is good news for Bet365 too, who will welcome the added revenue that their Champions League sponsorship will bring at a time when many of their competitors, including Entain and William Hill owner Evoke, are posting below-par financial results.