The online casino and betting industry has been a long-time partner of many sports teams, events, stadiums, and even the whole league. This is not a surprise, given how much business potential every partnership has. This also applies to MMA casino partnerships, as the sport is quickly growing in popularity year after year. Many players of the Bizzo Casino are well aware that gambling brands get into this type of sponsorship with a detailed growth plan. In this article, we’re going to explore why both casinos and MMA leagues and fighters get into this kind of collaboration. We’ll then mention a couple of important partnerships and predict where this trend will go in the future.
Why Do Casinos Sponsor MMA Events and Fighters?
There’s a big list of companies that sponsor MMA fighters for the right reason. MMA sponsorship is one of the best ways for both parties of the deal to benefit in their own respective way. Let’s first take a look at what’s in it for the MMA sponsors, and we’ll then see how MMA benefits from it.
Brand awareness and trust - Brand awareness is important in all industries, and it might be one of the most important things when it comes to online casinos. You want to find a way to build trust with players from the moment they see your brand. That’s why MMA sponsors looking for fighters want to be tied to respectful athletes with huge fan bases. That way, a big audience of people trusting them will also trust an Internet casino.
Attracting new customers - With a higher degree of trust and exposure to a broad audience, brands get an influx of new players. If there’s a good casino bonus included, gambling sites can capitalize heavily on their partnerships with MMA fighters.
Higher revenue figures - More customers means more people gambling every day which will result in a higher revenue.
Expansion to new markets - Different fighters are popular in different areas. Therefore, a brand that wants to expand into a new market can partner up with the local stars. It helps with the expansion process, helping the brand get players in a new market quicker.
This is just one side of the coin. The MMA league also gets a big benefit from collaboration with online casino brands.
How Does MMA Benefit from These Deals?
Despite its increasing popularity, MMA as a sport requires a huge amount of funding to take care of all the people working in the industry. That’s why it’s always looking for partners who can help with funding. This is where sponsorships play an important role. Businesses from various industries approach both leagues and fighters, promising funding. Each of these companies is essentially making a long-term investment in their marketing efforts. They tie themselves to individuals and leagues with the goal of growing their brand awareness.
What are Some Notable Partnerships?
Let’s explore a couple of great examples of partnerships between the MMA world and online casinos.
BetMGM and UFC
BetMGM is one of the most respectable online brands in the US. With its expansion to the UK, the brand is looking for various ways to get more players under its wing. That’s where sponsorships can greatly help. UFC is one of the MMA leagues that is in direct sponsorship with BetMGM. It’s their official betting partner.
The partnerships started back in 2019. Since there are plenty of UFC fans from the UK, once the brand decided to make its move and expand into that market, those who love to play online casino games and bet on MMA were already familiar with this brand.
Stake.com and UFC
Stake.com is a platform that offers both an online casino and a sportsbook. However, there’s another reason why it’s the perfect partner of the UFC. The gambling site offers support for the most popular cryptocurrencies. As there are millions of UFC fans globally, the brand benefits greatly as it’s legal in numerous territories globally.
PokerStars and Connor McGregor
PokerStars is a world-renowned brand with millions of fans. It got there with a smart marketing strategy because it partnered with a wide range of celebrities. One of the chosen ones was Connor McGregor. The brand signed a sponsorship brand with the athlete longe before he became insanely popular. Their partnership lasted for several years. As McGregor became more popular, so did the PokerStars brand. So besides partnering with the whole UFC, this sponsorship deal also answered can UFC fighters have sponsors.
Conclusion
Sponsorship deals have become normal across all sports. In fact, some of these sports have become legendary thanks to sponsors. You can see today how wrestling shaped gaming culture over the years. The same is happening now with UFC, which is becoming an increasingly popular game among younger players. Therefore, every partnership has a much deeper effect. Casinos and sportsbooks will remain an important cog in the sponsorship industry. With all the regulations that are being adopted in various markets, we’ll see these brands sponsoring even more sports events in the future.
