Poll results: William Hill to outshine rivals in Premier League battle
Majority of respondents to this week's poll believe Hills is best placed to capitalise on new season
William Hill will enjoy more success in this season’s English Premier League than any of its major online rivals, a majority of respondents to this week’s EGR poll has said.
Operators have been preparing for tomorrow’s big kick-off by signing a plethora of EPL-related sponsorship deals â for instance, a record half of all clubs will have their shirts sponsored by online gaming firms.
While it could be argued a firm of Hills’ size doesn’t require expensive shirt deals, the firm did agree a hat-trick of betting partnerships with Everton, Tottenham Hotspur (pictured) and Chelsea.
In addition the firm also extended its sponsorship of BT Sport’s Premier League television coverage.
And it is partly for these reasons that 51% of respondents said the firm would win the online bookie battle over the course of the season.
Bet365 has also been tipped to perform well, coming next in the poll with 28% backing. The operator has perhaps gone boldest with its headline sponsorship of Sky Sports’ Friday and Monday Night Football coverage.
Furthermore the firm has extended its agreement with Premier League club Stoke City, which includes stadium naming rights.
Despite its scale, the now combined Paddy Power Betfair were third with 15% of the vote.
Paddy Power’s strong social media presence will remain attractive to the younger recreational punter while Betfair’s new ad campaign was confirmation, if it was needed, that it will be targeting the more sophisticated bettor.
Meanwhile, the soon-to-be-merged Ladbrokes Coral will also operate a dual-brand strategy and last week Jim Mullen said Ladbrokes had positioned itself as the go to football bookmaker both north and south of the border through its deals with the SPFL and the English FA.
However, this doesn’t appear to be a sentiment shared among EGR readers with the firm attracting just 6% of the vote.