Birmingham City FC has continued its pursuit of worldwide growth after announcing Duelbits as their new Asian betting partner.
Little details have been shared on how the Championship side will promote the crypto casino, however, the club has hailed the addition to their growing list of commercial collaborations.
Birmingham City’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeremy Dale, said: “We are excited to welcome Duelbits onboard as the club continue to increase our global standing.
“As an organisation, we are big on fan experience, and in Duelbits, we have a partner who shares that approach and puts their customers at the forefront of their operation.”
Second time lucky?
The partnership marks the Championship side’s second such collaboration, after previously agreeing a deal with God55.
However, this partnership hit the headlines in March when an iGaming Expert investigation revealed that God55 was misleading consumers over claims that it held a Maltese Gaming Authority (MGA) licence.
Though the club never responded to the allegations, they did remove a promotional video featuring God55 from their social media channels.
The UK Gambling Commission was also forced to step in and remind clubs of their responsibility to ensure that UK players cannot transact with any partners that are not licensed in the UK.
A continuing issue
Teams have faced criticism from fans, politicians and the UKGC over their involvement with the gambling industry operators that are not licensed for the UK market.
In October, Leicester City were chastised for choosing to “legitimise” BC.Game by returning to the operator as their front-of-shirt sponsor for the current Championship season.
Duncan Garvie, Founder of BetBlocker, told SlotBeats: “That a major UK football club has chosen to legitimise a gambling operator that is illegal in the UK only adds to consumer confusion around which sites are legal and appropriately regulated,” said Garvie.
“This is a practice that the [UK Gambling Commissions] need to be empowered to stamp out. The standards for safer gambling practices have been clearly set in the UK market. If BC.Game was meeting those standards, they would hold a UK license.”
Duelbits previously had a presence in the UK, however, this ended when TGP Europe exited the UK market after a UKGC investigation revealed significant AML failures. The operator currently holds a licence from the Curaçao Gaming Authority.
While some believe that previous controversies may lead to clubs reconsidering the value of sponsorship deals from such operators, it appears that this is not the case for Birmingham as it seeks to grow its commercial portfolio.