Premier League club Manchester United has signed a major new partnership with Asian betting brand Yabo Sports.
It is the club’s first betting partner deal with an Asian-facing brand.
SportBusiness Sponsorship can confirm that the deal is a multi-year global partnership, United’s highest partnership tier after shirt sponsors Chevrolet and Kohler, kit supplier adidas and principal partner Aon.
Although the deal is yet to be officially announced, the betting brand was present on LED boards at Old Trafford stadium during Sunday’s home match against Chelsea. The brand did not feature on post-match interview backdrops.
It is understood that that the deal will be officially announced in the coming weeks.
Yabo Sports replaces the mobile betting and gaming brand MoPlay in United’s global betting category.
MoPlay held the rights from 2018-19 under a multi-year deal that appears to have been terminated early.
Yabo Sports has already sponsored a number of European football properties. Last season, it signed as the official and exclusive betting partner of Bundesliga club Hertha BSC in Asia and with LIgue 1’s AS Monaco as regional partner in Asia.
In March this year, Yabo Sports was named as the International Presenting Sponsor in Asia for Italy’s Serie A.
The brand features in-match graphics, idents and virtual goal-mat advertising in all live Serie A matches broadcast throughout Asia.
Over the last decade, United has signed global betting partners deals with five brands: Betfair (2009), Bwin (2012), Marathonbet (2015), MoPlay (2018) and Yabo Sports (2019).