32Red is one of the most famous and renowned iGaming operators in the world, and one that remains at the cutting edge of innovation and technological advancement in the industry.
Fortunately, there’s a great review here of this casino and everything that it has to offer, while the site’s close partnership with Microgaming has afforded it access to some of the very best games and platforms.
Interestingly, 32Red is also increasingly active from the perspective of men’s health, having announced a new partnership with the health program experts Team Talk. We’ll learn more about this below, while asking whether this will blaze a new trail for others to follow in the future?
How 32Red Casino is Reinventing Football Sponsorship
The online brand 32Red has occasionally had a chequered industry in the iGaming space, having incurred one particularly large fine from the UKGC following the reported failure to safeguard a vulnerable gambler.
However, it has sought to reinvent itself gradually in recent times, particularly in terms of how it approaches sports sponsorship and recognising the importance of supporting mental health within this male dominated market.
More specifically, 32Red has continued its ongoing commitment to reinvent football sponsorship, having announced a significant reinvestment in the successful men’s mental health program Team Talk.
At present, 32Red holds lucrative sponsorships with three Championship clubs (including Derby County), while it also has commercial agreements with Glasgow in the Scottish Premiership.
However, it’s renewed and considerable investment into the innovative Team Talk platform will see the company commit tens of thousands of pounds in continuing to develop the mental health program run by the Derby County Community Trust, with a view to tackling one of the single biggest health crises of modern times.
OK, we hear you ask, but how does the Team Talk platform work? In simple terms, it uses its local club as a mechanism to engage with men about their mental health in real-time, with this strategy running across four hubs and incorporating a virtual delivery model throughout the recent lockdown in the UK.
The investment made by 32Red is a welcome and strategically important one too, as it will help to maintain (and in some cases, increase) the support that it provides across the city for the 12 months and beyond.
According to 32Red’s parent company the Kindred Group, this is part of a continued change approach to sponsorship and reinvestment, with the brand having previously outlined its intentions to become a ‘sponsor of choice’ for sporting organisations and the surrounding communities.
This represents a significant development in the world of sports and commercial sponsorship, while it may also have an immensely beneficial impact on 32Red and the iGaming industry as a whole.
Beyond the Headlines – What Does This Mean for the Future?
The initial success of this collaboration has been impressive, and there are several potential reasons for this.
One of the most prominent is the unique relationship that exists between supporters and their beloved local team, which provides a pathway for Team Talk and their sponsors to reach a far wider audience and promote mental health awareness on a huge scale.
This helps to both help individuals to become more aware of their struggles and tackle the stigma that remains synonymous with men’s mental health, with younger males particularly at risk in the current climate (the rate of suicides amongst men reached a two-year peak as recently as September 2020).
From the perspective of 32Red, the brand has announced this development as the latest of several projects that are due to be rolled out in the near-term.
Each of these initiatives will have the same broader aim; to become a positive sponsor for football clubs and develop a greater level of participation in local communities and problem demographics in some instances.
In many ways, this will provide a new and exciting template for how sports sponsorships can blossom in the years to come, with this having been a key area of concern amongst regulators in the iGaming market.
More specifically, there have been concerns about the visibility of iGaming brands within the sporting realm, with shirt sponsorships central to this.
However, by creating a broad framework in which operators can maintain sponsorships while simultaneously investing in relevant initiatives that help the local community, brands can adopt a more balanced approach and use their financial resources for a raft of beneficial social projects.
Of course, it’s common for brands to participate in high-profile mental health campaigns in recent times, but the involvement of iGaming operators seems particularly relevant.
After all, the link between addiction and declining mental health is prevalent, and something that iGaming brands can do much to tackle in the coming years.
