FA Strengthens Sponsorship Roster With William Hill

The FA has added a new name to its sponsorship roster, with gaming and sports betting business William Hill becoming an Official Supporter to both England and The FA Cup. A two-and-a-half year deal has been agreed, running through to the end of The FA and FIFA World Cups in 2014.

There are three Official Supporter sponsorship packages for both England and The FA Cup, and William Hill has now filled the only vacant slot across both properties.

William Hill will benefit from a wide range of sponsorship rights, including advertising, hospitality and the ability to use exclusive England and FA Cup content and imagery to support promotional activities.

“We are delighted to have William Hill on board,” says Peter Daire, The FA’s Head of Sponsorship. “They have a strong track record in sports sponsorship and a considerable online and high-street presence that will enable us to strengthen our communication platforms for England and The FA Cup. In return, William Hill will benefit from an association with two of the highest-profile football sponsorship properties in the world.”

Ralph Topping, Chief Executive of William Hill, said: “We have been looking for sponsorship opportunities from which we can reward and engage with our customers for the events they most enjoy. This deal with The FA will help us to achieve our objectives of developing the prominence of our brand and increasing market share in all our business channels.

“Our ‘Official Betting Partner’ status of The FA Cup complements our existing partnership with the Scottish Football Association and our sponsorship of the Scottish Cup with which we are already extremely delighted and it becomes a welcome addition to our quality range of sponsorships within darts, snooker and racing.

Kristof Fahy, Chief Marketing Officer for William Hill, said: “This is an excellent deal for both parties and it gives us some very good opportunities to develop our brand across a wide variety of channels. The England and FA Cup branding and imagery will enable williamhill.com to promote its services and products that we can offer to our Casino, Games, Sportsbook, Bingo and Poker customers.”