Kindred signs lucrative Swedish football deal for Unibet

Kindred Group has agreed a deal worth SEK1.8bn (€172.9m/$200.1m) for its Unibet brand to become the main sponsor of two major Swedish club football leagues.

The agreement will run for an initial six years, beginning on January 1, 2020, with the option of a further six years.

Unibet will serve as main sponsor of the Allsvenskan top-tier competition and Superettan second division.

Each year, Unibet and Kindred will commit SEK150m to Svensk Elitfotboll, the organisation that represents the 32 clubs across the two leagues.

Svensk Elitfotboll will distribute SEK100m of this to the teams, with SEK25m to be used for talent development and integrity work.

In addition, SEK20m will be allocated to clubs on wishes from Unibet customers, with the remaining SEK5m referring to a special initiative towards European tournaments.

The partnership has been made possible through the upcoming introduction of new gambling laws in Sweden.

Dersim Sylwan, general manager Sweden at Kindred Group, said: “We are very proud to have made this historic agreement with Svensk Elitfotboll; the agreement includes a significant long-term commitment to Swedish sports, an opportunity we have been fighting for during the last 20 years.

“The new gaming license will finally make it possible for Swedish sports to gain market value for their partnerships, which is positive for the clubs, the associations and of course for the athletes.

“Our new agreement with Svensk Elitfotboll will for instance give the association substantially more income, compared to previous partnership deals.”

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