Gambling and sports sponsorship updates

In response, Bwin had initially reduced its sponsorship budget within the German territories by €40,000,000 but it now seems that their withdrawal will continue with the ending of their current sponsorship arrangements with VfB Stuttgart, the reigning German Bundesliga champions. It would appear that Stuttgart no longer consider that they have a reasonable prospect of honouring any such arrangements in light of the proposed betting treaty proposed to be signed in January 2008.

Although Bwin have challenged these bans in several German states, including Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bovaria, Saxony and Thuringia (and have even won a few of those challenges) the prospect of the new interstate gambling treaty poses too much of a threat and both sports clubs and Bwin are becoming reluctant to commit within Germany as they may, in doing so, expose themselves to commercial risks in the event that the treaty is passed. The move faces great criticism across both the German sports industry as well as the gambling industry itself for obvious reasons. Bwin, in particular, are a prolific sponsor of some of Europe's largest and most successful football teams including AC Milan and Real Madrid and it is unquestionable that the revenues they bring for football clubs is of direct benefit to the clubs that they sponsor as well as providing an indirect benefit to other clubs whose shirt sponsorship rights become more in demand and lucrative. Therefore, it is widely expected that DFL, the German football league, and a number of Bundesliga football clubs will lobby or potentially even take legal action in respect of the proposed interstate treaty.

Meanwhile, Alessio Di Mauro, an Italian tennis player and currently ranked number 124 in the world, was suspended for nine months a couple of months' ago and fined US$60,000 by the ATP, the governing body for men's tennis after being found to have placed bets on other professional tennis matches. Interestingly, Di Mauro did not place any wagers on the outcome of his own tennis matches and it was generally accepted that he made no attempt to fix results. The move comes in the midst of a number of betting related accusations, scandals and investigations within the sport of tennis.

For example, a source reportedly told the German newspaper Die Welt that up to thirty professional tennis players had been or were actively involved in match fixing. Meanwhile, Betfair, the UK-based online bookmaker, recently voided all matched bets relating to the game to be played between Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vasallo Arguello as a result of suspicious betting patterns. The ATP has responded by proposing new rules, initiatives and cooperation regarding the relationship between sport and the betting industry, to be known as an "integrity unit" with its purpose being to combat alleged match fixing within the game.

Elsewhere, the European Professional Football Leagues Body (the "EPFL"), which represents the interests of over twenty national football leagues across Europe, has reportedly raised objections to the European Commission with regard to the infringement of their intellectual property rights by a number of betting companies. A letter, sent by EPFL to a group of EU sports ministers raised a number of concerns and, in particular, sought recompense for the use of images, information, logos, match results and league tables by such betting companies without permission and/or an appropriate licence. Furthermore, the EPFL is seeking additional restrictions and regulations regarding the relationship between the betting industry and sport to cover issues such as the exploitation of intellectual property rights as well as seeking assistance from the industry in preventing and policing match fixing.