Manchester City partnership with Asian betting site raises eyebrows

Premier League powerhouse Manchester City announced a partnership with little-known Asian betting site 8Xbet earlier in the summer. The brand became the official betting partner of the club in Asia.

“We are delighted to welcome 8Xbet as a regional partner of Manchester City today,” stated Tom Boyle, Vice President Global Partnerships Marketing and Operations, City Football Group. “8Xbet shares our commitment to entertaining and providing great experiences to customers and fans alike. The new partnership provides the club an opportunity to further increase our presence across the region and we look forward to working with 8Xbet.”

According to Manchester City, this Asian betting site launched in 2018. It aims to give customers in Asia “high quality, unique and engaging experiences.” A deal between the two entities apparently consists of product placement inside the Etihad Stadium. Plus, there is an increase in presence of the partnership throughout Asia.

English clubs regularly partner with betting sites. Eight teams in the Premier League use betting companies as its official shirt sponsor. However, these companies, such as fun88, Dafabet or Hollywood Bets have thousands of followers across social media. These are established brands.

Contrarily, in Manchester City’s case, 8Xbet has little information available. Even the social channels for the betting site have next to no followers. Manchester City does not follow either account, for reference.

Also, former Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United player Teddy Sheringham is a brand ambassador for 8Xbet. The Champions-League-winning striker produces YouTube videos analyzing Premier League matchups. The 360 subscribers on the YouTube channel scarcely watch these videos.

Manchester City partners with Asian betting side 8Xbet

Data company Similarweb suggests that 8Xbet’s website has received fewer than 5,000 total hits.

Along with meager social media accounts, there is also some confusion behind the 8Xbet brand. Although they target Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, it appears as if they are being run from inside the United Arab Emirates. Reports suggest 8Xbet’s Facebook and Twitter English-language pages are being managed in the UAE.

Of course, Manchester City has considerable ties with the UAE. Club owner Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Sheikh Mansour) is the brother of the President of the UAE.

These reports also claim that 8Xbet has a connection to QOO Global. This is a marketing business based in the UAE that seemingly only has one significant client: 8Xbet. QOO Global currently has a small social media reach similar to that of 8Xbet.

It remains to be seen if Manchester City will mention their partnership with 8Xbet outside of the initial press release. Nevertheless, it appears strange that such a small company can strike a deal with a massive Premier League club.

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