By Paul Nicholson
August 3 – The battle for Britain’s punters is well and truly on. Bookmaker William Hill has promised a social media onslaught to win customers after first half profits fell 7% to £93.5 million on turnover of £837 million. Meanwhile, rival Ladbrokes was setting up for this weekend’s start of the Championship season, becoming Sheffield United’s Official Stadium Betting partner.
The Sheffield United deal will not be the make or break for Ladbrokes financial year, but it indicates a marketing strategy focussed on getting as close to fans as possible. Sister brand Coral (together they form the Ladbrokes Coral Group) are following a similar strategy having yesterday announced a similar deal at Sunderland.
William Hill is similarly retail focussed with its outlets accounting for more than 50% of its business. It is its betting shops that were hit with the slowdown being blamed on no major international football tournament this summer (Euro 2016 boosted last year’s results) too many football results going “in favour of punters” toward the end of the European football season.
William Hill reported that it did see growth in its online business both in betting volumes and new customers. The company has made a series of cost savings across its business that will contribute to increased marketing spend in the region of £40 million, mainly targeted at digital media.
That could be good news for clubs looking for betting revenue, especially if they can embrace social media platforms with their deal offers.
William Hill’s #YourOdds initiative, which allows gamblers to ask for odds on a specific bet via Twitter, has seen 2 million bets placed since it was launched at the beginning of the year by a demographic that is younger than its betting shop clientele.
Ladbrokes’ three-season deal at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane will also give Ladbrokes a presence on the club’s social media channels to support betting activity prior to all games, as well as a package of match-day advertising and branding opportunities, including perimeter advertising, advertising on the new ADi jumbo screen, and in the match-day programme.
The bookmaker will also have a package of money-can’t-buy experiences, merchandise giveaways and tickets for fans.
The deal was negotiated by BD Sport Rights who act exclusively for Ladbrokes and Coral and describe themselves as specialists “in building creative, content led partnerships between market leading betting brands and rights owners.” The stadium betting service will be operated by BD Stadia.
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