Scottish Premiership side Celtic "adopted a new sponsorship strategy in an attempt to keep pace with Europe’s elite, both at home and abroad," according to Tony Connelly of THE DRUM. Conscious of the "rapidly growing prosperity" of the English Premier League as a result of huge broadcast deals, Celtic changed its sponsorship approach this season "by bringing in betting firm Dafabet." The partnership "is a strategic attempt to build on the club’s Asian fan base by projecting the Celtic brand into new territories which can yield more commercial opportunities and subsequently help compensate for the gargantuan financial disparity" that exists between Scottish football and England's top flight. Celtic Sponsorship Manager Suzanne Reid said, "The financial gap between the EPL and SPFL will remain insurmountable as long as the bulk of the revenue generated by TV media rights goes to the EPL." Having its main sponsor in Asia "is part of the Scottish champions' strategy to promote themselves on a global scale with the help of partners who understand the region and can help with the complexities of engaging with audiences there." Dafabet has already begun helping Celtic grow and interact with its Asian fanbase. Reid: "They’ve helped us launch our first Chinese language website and we have also seen growth in our Weibo channel." Taken together, these initiatives "have helped the club secure a new TV deal with Chinese broadcaster LETV which will see more live Celtic fixtures shown in China than ever before." While bringing in an Asian sponsor, as well as a betting firm, is a first for Celtic, "another noticeable aspect of the current commercial model is the fact that it now has two kit sponsors" (THE DRUM, 8/22).
