Unibet Inks Title Sponsorship Deal With Top Swedish Football Leagues

ALLSVENSKAN

Ahead of Sweden regulating its online betting market, Stockholm-listed Kindred Group announced its "biggest sports sponsorship to date," according to Ted Menmuir of SBC NEWS. It confirmed its Unibet brand will become the title sponsor of the Allsvenskan and Superettan leagues, the top two tiers of Swedish professional football. The deal with Svensk Elitfotboll is a 12-year partnership valued at 1.2B Swedish krona ($133.1M). The title sponsorship will begin in Jan. '20, with Unibet replacing state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel as lead sponsor of the leagues. In a statement, Kindred said, "The sponsorship agreement will run for six years with an option for an additional six years at a total value of up to SEK 1.8 billion ($200M) -- making it one of the biggest investments in Swedish sports ever." The sponsorship will "focus on social responsibility" and aim to raise the profile and standard of Swedish football (SBC NEWS, 6/28).