Q&A: David Lynn, William Hill, head of sponsorships

In the weeks leading up to the start of the new Premier League football season, online gambling brands were trampling over each other to secure some of football’s most lucrative marketing deals. The summer months saw operators pose on an almost daily basis for pictures with representatives of world-famous football institutions, just moments after signing on the dotted line to become an official betting partner.

And none were keener to get in on the action this year than the UK’s biggest bookmaker: William Hill. The London-listed operator – which saw its digital arm spend £120.6m on marketing in 2015 – seemed to make a more concerted push into this area of marketing than it had ever done before. This was despite just months earlier deciding not to renew its sponsorship of the English Football Association due to the deal’s high costs and a weaker than hoped return on investment.

One five-day period in August saw Hills announce a trio of high-profile betting partnership deals. First up was Merseyside-based team Everton, which chose William Hill to replace rival firm Coral as the Toffees’ official European betting operator. Two days later and Hills was back on its North London stomping ground to be named the official European and Australian betting partner of its local club Tottenham Hotspur, before securing its biggest deal to replace BetVictor as Chelsea‘s official betting partner.

EGR spoke to William Hill’s head of sponsorships and partnerships, David Lynn, to find out more about the deals and whether they signify a change in the operator’s marketing strategy.

EGR: Why did William Hill make a bigger push into betting partnerships compared to previous years?

David Lynn (DL): We decided to move our focus away from the FA deal towards the Premier League. Our new club deals with Chelsea, Spurs and Everton allow us to showcase our brand to the biggest global sporting audience and give us the opportunity to talk to a vast fan base across all our channels on a weekly basis.

EGR: Are you now spending a far greater percentage of the marketing budget on sponsorship deals?

DL: There has been a marginal increase in spend compared to last year.

EGR: Do you worry that as more and more betting companies sign such agreements, the deals will start to become too expensive?

DL: A lot of betting companies are now involved in the Premier League however, many are targeted at Asia which isn’t currently part of our global strategy. It’s true the cost of sponsoring or partnering with PL clubs has risen significantly in recent years but we are comfortable with the costs attached given the exposure we receive. It’s early days in these deals but the challenge will be in monetising them over time.

EGR: Have you focused much more on football because of ongoing sponsorship difficulties with horse racing?

DL: No our sponsorship mix effectively reflects where what our business objectives are and outside of football we have invested in other traditional sports with a global audience such as darts, tennis and boxing. However, football is currently king in terms of interest both domestically and internationally. The challenge for myself is to locate the next ‘big thing’ and lock it down before the competition drive the price up!

EGR: How do you try to leverage these sponsorship deals via digital marketing means?

DL: For many these deals are a media buy and are negotiated on that basis with LED board minutes and a backdrop presence being the key drivers. Whilst these do drive brand awareness there needs to be a clear digital strategy that allows interaction with the fan base across the world. All our deals offer us the opportunity to engage with the clubs fan base through their social channels, email, affiliates and exclusive and engaging content.

EGR: What does the future hold for William Hill’s relationship with horse racing? Particularly in light of ABP-member 32Red getting King George deal.

DL: We have ongoing sponsorships with Ayr and Ripon, so we will continue to sponsor horseracing until either these deals expire or if the ABP situation is resolved. The situation is very disappointing as the ABP concept was really conceived to target those online-only operators that didn’t pay anything to racing.

Instead it has turned on the retail bookmakers – those that make the biggest commercial and Levy payments to racing and penalised them. When you consider it is costing racecourses money in terms of lost sponsorship it is all quite perplexing. We have had approaches from major racecourses over really innovative business partnerships that work commercially for both parties but the BHA have stepped in and blocked the courses from striking agreements with us.

What do you think is the reasoning behind the BHA’s current stance?

DL: When you consider the year-on-year double-digit increases in overall payments from betting to racing in terms of media rights, data rights, streaming rights and other payments it really makes no sense at all – particularly when the government is already committed to ensuring online is covered by new levy arrangements.

Still where there is a political process there is likely to be a political campaign. The BHA has become more like the unions at British Leyland in the 1970s – they have a number they want to push for and the fact they are getting significant increases on the commercial side is just ignored. They keep pushing for more without realising they are harming the whole industry for the long term. It is all very needless as in a normal commercial negotiation this would have been wrapped up long ago but the BHA is locked into the politics and that’s that.

EGR: Hills recently ended its sponsorship of the Greyhound Derby. Do you see much of a future for bookies in greyhound racing and for Hills in particular?

DL: We’re still heavily involved in greyhound racing. We own Sunderland and Newcastle greyhound tracks and this year teamed up for the first time with Peterborough. The sport itself has huge potential but it is in dramatic need of modernisation in order to grow its audience and get the exposure in a congested live sports market.

There are so many incredible people involved in the sport and if it can secure the investment to build the facilities for racegoers, I can see new corporate sponsors, not just bookmakers, getting involved in the sport. It ticks so many boxes in terms of entry point and quick fire events. However, the loss of Wimbledon, London’s only remaining greyhound racing track would be a big blow to the industry given the sports history in the capital.