Betfair hires Connexus to find TV opportunities

Online bookmaker Betfair has appointed sponsorship agency Connexus to come up with branded programming opportunities to raise its profile.

The agency will target sports shows, particularly those that cover live football coverage. Betfair allows punters to place bets using prices set by themselves rather than the bookmaker. Betfair wants to create editorial content based around its odds, for example man of the match and scorer of the first goal, instead of the usual phone poll used by most programmes.

Betfair director of communications Mark Davies says he wants to form a partnership with a broadcaster rather than sign a traditional sponsorship deal. “I believe that we can offer something different to a broadcaster. I’m not going to throw loads of money into sponsoring programmes.”

Betfair launched in June 2002 and claims to be the UK’s number one online betting company. The company signed up to sponsor Fulham Football Club at the beginning of the season, and Davies says the company is in talks about extending the one-year deal.

Similar deals recently struck by Connexus include Glamour’s sponsorship of Sky’s showbiz news and British Airways’ spot on Sky News, called BA Destinations.