Real Madrid has paved the way to sealing a new shirt sponsorship deal with Emirates by announcing that it is close to agreeing a multi-year digital partnership with current sponsor Bwin.
The Primera Division giant announced today that it will present its long-rumoured Emirates deal, widely reported to be a four-year contract, on Thursday. Betting firm Bwin has served as Real’s shirt sponsor since July 2007 and its current deal ends following the conclusion of the 2012-13 season.
However, Real is keen to maintain its relationship with Bwin and said it is close to agreeing a deal that will make the company its official digital partner. In a statement, the two parties said the decision to move to a new digital partnership “reflects a shift in consumer behaviour” over the past few years which has led to an evolution in the sponsorship strategy of Bwin’s parent company, bwin.party, to focus on social media and social gaming, online and mobile integration, as well as exploiting the group’s content and media rights catalogue. It is in these areas that both parties are now looking to extend their relationship going forward.
Commenting on the announcement, bwin.party Group chief executive, Norbert Teufelberger, said: “Our decision not to renew the shirt sponsorship brings to an end one chapter in our relationship with Real Madrid which has delivered six highly successful years of brand promotion for Bwin on the shirts of one of the world’s truly global football brands. We now look forward to beginning the next chapter by leveraging our brand strengths to drive revenue and create premium content for our customers and Real Madrid’s millions of followers.”