ATG terminates sponsorship with Swedish ice hockey league

Swedish operator AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) has terminated its sponsorship of Hockeyettan, the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden.

The operator agreed to a three-year sponsorship agreement with the league before the start of the 2019-20 season, but Katarina Widman, chief commercial officer at ATG said the deal has “not worked in the desired way”.

ATG noted that, as part of the agreement, clubs in the league were expected to provide the operator with broadcasting rights to its matches. While it said “the vast majority” of clubs did so, it added that some did not.

“Unfortunately, during the season there have been and still are disagreements within the league regarding the rights agreement, which of course makes it difficult to work together,” Widman said.

ATG will pay its obligations for the 2019-20 season in full.

Hockeyettan, formerly known as Division 1, consists of 46 clubs divided between North, South, East and West divisions. Teams may be promoted from Hockeyettan to HockeyAllsvenskan.

Last week, ATG reported a 10.7% year-on-year increase in net gaming revenue for the first quarter of 2019 to SEK1.11bn (£89.0m/€102.1m/$110.7m).