United's money lining Arsenal's pockets

Last month, it came to fruition that Manchester United had signed three-year sponsorship deal with betting giants Bwin.party, that would see them serve as the club’s “official online gaming and betting partner”. The Premier League giants are just the latest in a long line of big named football teams that have agreed to go down a similar route in order to improve marketability and revenue.

You have to look back to 2006 to find the first notable deal between the two businesses, with online gambling company Mansion agreeing to sponsor Tottenham Hotspur for the four years after that deal was finalised. The deal was the beginning of the trend that now dominates the game, with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Arsenal all in some sort of partnership with a betting company.

United are just the latest to have jumped on the betting bandwagon, despite reports last year that US casino giants Wynn were in talks to buy Bwin.party. While the move failed to materialise, it goes to show the vast sums of money available in the betting industry and has proven time and time again to be a guaranteed money maker.

However, despite the money that will be pumped into the club from Bwin.party, United still stand to lose a set amount to Premiership rivals Arsenal due to a business partnership with a subsidiary company. As mentioned, the Gunners are one of the game’s bigger teams to have come to an agreement with a major betting syndicate; Betsson.

The Ongame Network is home to Betsson, but was purchased by Bwin a few years back. The gaming giants then merged with PartyPoker in 2011 to set-up Bwin.party, so in essence; money generated by Manchester United through the online betting syndicate will also bolster the Arsenal coffers as a result.

However, with Bwin now selling off surplus assets, Ongame being one of them, it won’t be long until Arsenal cease to receive any form of funding as a result of their ongoing partnership with Betsson.