Ligue 1’s Girondins de Bordeaux has announced the termination of its partnership contract with Winamax, following the company’s tweets about the last match.
The sports betting site had signed the sponsorship in summer last year but, as reported by France Bleu, has stepped up its jokes towards the club on social media, pushing Bordeaux to end their partnership.
“We are terminating our partnership contract with Winamax, whose communication had dissociated itself from the club through videos or tweets about the last match. We have humour but here we are not in the spirit of a partnership,” stated Thomas Jacquemier, Chief Operating Officer at the club.
According to France Bleu, around 20 mocking tweets were published by Winamax over the past three months – which does not take into account any that have been previously deleted.
The sponsor responded almost immediately after the statement was published on twitter:
It has been reported that the brand was investing up to €1.3 million per season, and Jacquemier added: “Yes, there is a shortfall but we will compensate for it with other income.
“But we have to see the positive things because the Girondins de Bordeaux have not lost their attractiveness and we have received the arrival of a new sponsor which was not planned.”
Finally, France Bleu suggested that although the club’s supporters mock the team after losses, that ‘this does not pass’ when it comes to its partners.
Now, the Girondins have introduced the sponsor Coeur Marine & Blanc which, according to the team, ‘is more in line with the values of the club because it is a young foundation created by the club a little less than two years ago’.
This is not the first time in recent memory that a European top-flight football club has terminated a partnership with a betting company due to disagreements over social media posting.
On the Northern side of the English channel, Premier League club Norwich City made the decision to anul its agreement with Asian sports betting operator BK8 after Canaries’ supporters criticised ‘sexually provocative’ social media marketing campaigns published across the firm’s channels.
