AS Monaco boost Japan footprint with Casino Secret deal
French Ligue 1 club AS Monaco have signed Japanese online casino operator Casino Secret as their regional partner as part of their larger plans to increase their presence in the country. The deal will see Casino Secret as exclusive regional partners for two seasons of the Ligue 1, including the one that began earlier this month.
This is AS Monaco’s third major move, including the signing of Takumi Minamino, to make their presence felt in Japan. ©12019/Pixabay
AS Monaco play in the top division of French football and are among the most successful teams in the country’s footballing history, and were the institution from which legendary modern French footballing names like Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry began their launches into global stardom. They’ve won the Ligue 1 eight times, been runners-up on seven occasions, and finished in 3rd place during the 2021-22 season that concluded earlier this year. Only AS Saint-Etienne, Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain have won the Ligue 1 more times than Monaco, but their most recent triumph, in 2016-17, is considered an especially significant achievement given that Qatar-backed Paris Saint-Germain have dominated the league through their financial might and won the title in every season since 2012-13 other than that one.
Monaco’s second big gambling deal
This deal is Monaco’s second major partnership with an iGaming entity, with the VBET Group being the other big name on their books. In their press release, AS Monaco said the partnership will begin with an “exclusive digital campaign” that will target the Japanese market.
“Casino Secret, one of the fastest growing and innovative Online Casinos in Japan, becomes the Official Online Gaming Partner of AS Monaco in Japan for the next two seasons. By entering into a partnership with a company primarily focused on the Japanese market, AS Monaco is taking another step forward which will enable the Club to get closer to the football fans in the region. Casino Secret and AS Monaco will jointly launch an exclusive digital campaign, featuring a series of high-impact content targeting the Japanese audience to celebrate the new partnership.”
Monaco’s push for a Japanese presence
The announcement of this partnership comes hot on the heels of AS Monaco’s new social media engagement channel in the region – an official Japanese Twitter account that was launched in July 2022. The creation of that engagement channel itself began after they agreed on a transfer for Japanese midfielder Takumi Minamino from legendary English club Liverpool FC in late June.
On the surface, this deal, alongside the signing of Minamino and the creation of the Japanese Twitter account reveals a serious bid to capture the football market in Japan. Minamino and Takehiro Tomiyasu, who plays for English club Arsenal, are the two most high-profile Japanese players plying their trade in European football at the moment.
Monaco’s apparent strategy to go after such a market can be compared to that of many European clubs in the past, particularly that of the bigwigs in English football, who built fanbases in southeast Asia through such campaigns and have built years of revenue on the back of it. Although it must be noted that in this particular case, Monaco will be engaging with an online casino provider that operates in a country which hasn’t regulated online gambling.
Nevertheless, Casino Secret sees this as a huge opportunity to leverage both Monaco’s brand as well as Minamino’s presence to make their mark, and the CEO, Nadir Ounissi, said as much.
“Since our launch in 2018, Casino Secret brand has been growing exponentially in Japan and that has led us to win several awards voted by the community of players. In the past we worked with other partners in the football industry, now as one of the leading online gaming companies in Japan, it is logical to take a next step to associate with AS Monaco, a world-renowned club, with a strong digital audience of over 22 million supporters and a constant growth of this resonance. With Takumi Minamino’s presence in the AS Monaco team, we have a great opportunity to grow our respective Japanese communities in the next two seasons. We look forward to this collaboration.”
