PokerStars Forges Sponsorship Deal with UFC
A new marketing sponsorship was announced for UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustafsson 2 which takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on 29 December as the Stars Group’s online poker brand PokerStars joins forces with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization (MMA).
Landing this agreement, PokerStars becomes UFC’s first-ever official poker partner and thus creates a brand new sponsorship category.
The signature red spade and white star logo will be adorning the UFC cage for fight fans to see. Advertising for the online poker giants will also be integrated into UFC telecast and through other digital and social media channels. This partnership should diminish the gap between MMA fandom and affinity for sports betting, poker and other forms of gambling as more and more states regulate sports betting.
MMA has the largest promotional company in the world and the worldwide distribution of the match will expose the PokerStars brand to approximately 1.1 billion households in more than 160 countries, on 40 languages.
“We’re excited that PokerStars has joined our roster of global partners and has helped us create a new sponsorship category for our final event of 2018,” said Paul Asencio, UFC senior vice president, global partnerships. “This agreement lays the foundation to work together with PokerStars in the future to grow our respective customer bases in key markets.”
A member of PokerStars Team and huge MMA fan, Jason Somerville has previously collaborated with UFC working with them through Ultimate Poker. He explained that huge MMA and poker bases are intertwined so this is a win-win situation.
“I’m very excited for the UFC-PS partnership,” Somerville said. “For now, we’re focused on kickstarting our relationship with UFC 232 next week; details beyond that coming soon. I see a vast opportunity here in content, promotions, crossovers, etc. There’s a huge UFC fan base in poker and a lot of poker fans in the UFC audience.”
The two brands have a lot in common, to bring thrill and entertainment to its viewers and customers so the partnership is a classic combo.
Although this is first sponsorship deal with UFC, other leagues made their deals in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling lifting PASPA. MGM Resorts International scooped partnerships with NBA, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.
Dallas Cowboys became NFL first team to partner with a casino, WinStar World Casino and Resort, and soon few other teams followed in same
