The latest partnership between betting business and the world of sports was announced this week as PointsBet Canada entered into a deal with Canada’s Club Link, who are the largest owner of golf clubs in the country.
Across their venues, Club Link currently host over 1,000,000 rounds of golf every year in Ontario alone, which gives PointsBet a huge reach for their brand and exposure for their betting markets.
PointsBet were amongst the first wave of sportsbook operators to enter the newly regulated Ontario gambling market on 4th April and claim to have taken the first bet just 50 seconds after midnight on the first day of business.
The Australian bookmaker is listed on the Australian stock exchange and has offices in Australia, Canada, the US and Ireland. As well as a wide range of betting markets they also offer casino games through a downloadable mobile app.
The new partnership with ClubLink is part of PointsBet’s strategy of building a localised offering that aligns the betting brand with recognised Canadian sports businesses, products and venues. The company also owns offices in Toronto giving them a local presence and workforce who understand the market.
Nic Sulsky, Chief Commercial Officer at PointsBet, believes that the partnership will give his business visibility amongst a devoted group of sports fans.
“We are delighted to be partnering with one of the most recognized brands in Canadian golf,” said Sulsky. “A friendly wager is a regular occurrence among golfers enjoying a round which makes the ClubLink audience a natural fit for us. Golfers are some of the most passionate sports fans and we cannot wait to show them why PointsBet is the two-time winner of EGR North America’s Best Sports Betting Operator.”
PointsBet’s dedication to engaging with Ontarians on a local level is one of the reasons ClubLink is excited to be entering into this partnership.
ClubLink’s Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, also said that PointsBet can add value to the special membership program at ClubLink and its support for their nationwide golf championships this year will be an exciting addition to the competition.
PointsBet’s own commmercial director, Keesje Kort, said that ClubLinks is a company that embodies Canada’s ‘sporting landscape’ and the sportsbook is looking forward to “a summer of fun engaging ClubLink’s members throughout their clubs in Ontario.”
A PARTNERSHIP TYPICAL OF THE NEW LANDSCAPE OF BETTING
As in the States, Onatrio’s new betting market, predicted by many to become one of the largest in North America, is seeing many partnerships like that between PointsBet and ClubLink.
PointsBet is also the sponsor of the Ottawa Redbacks Canadian football team, with its brand name written across the Redback’s shirts and displayed throughout their home ground, TD Place.
Other commercial partnerships between betting firms and sports clubs and franchises include BetMGM and Fan Duel, Flutter subsidiaries’, deals with the NHL in Canada, and Poker Stars’ agreement with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, owners of Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Partnerships like these give sportsbooks direct access to a huge potential customer base of sports fans who enjoy betting. But they are opposed by anti-gambling groups who say that they normalise betting.
For example, in the UK right now, a full review of gambling legislation is looking to prohibit sponsorship deals between gambling firms and Premier League football teams. In Canada and the US the industry is most definitely heading in the other direction.
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