AstroPay Reinforces Burnley Sponsorship
Online payment service AstroPay has reinforced its partnership with Burnley FC. The Premier League side’s payment solutions partner and sleeve partner has now agreed to act as the main shirt sponsor for the women’s team. AstroPay will also be sponsoring the newly installed dugouts at the club’s home ground, which have been completed as part of recent renovations at Turf Moor.
As part of the deal, AstroPay is now the front of shirt sponsor for Burnley FC Women. ©Jorono/Pixabay
Supporting Women’s Football
Online global payment solution AstroPay has announced that it has strengthened its partnership with English football club, Burnley FC. AstroPay is already the club’s Official Payment Solution partner, and has been Burnley’s sleeve sponsor since the beginning of the 2021 Premier League campaign. Before that, it partnered with the club for the 2018/19 season.
The successful partnership has now been strengthened even further, as Burnley FC has named AstroPay the new front of shirt sponsor for its women’s side. AstroPay will sponsor the team’s shirts for the remainder of the 2021/22 season. The deal signifies that the positive relationship between AstroPay and Burnley FC is likely to continue for seasons to come.
AstroPay’s sponsorship of the team’s shirts will go a long way to support the women’s game at Burnley FC. The AstroPay logo will feature prominently on the front of Burnley FC Women’s home and away shirts. The club has also revealed that the range will be available to purchase at the club’s store soon.
CEO of AstroPay Mikael Lijtenstein was pleased to announce the strengthened sponsorship deal. Speaking on behalf of AstroPay, he explained that he is very much looking forward to developing the partnership with Burnley FC further. Adding that together they could achieve great things, Lijtenstein said:
“As two innovative organisations, we share a similar ethos of being forward thinking and creative, which is why the prospect of becoming Burnley FC Women’s front of shirt sponsor was so appealing. The club are making great strides in women’s football, and we wanted to be a part of the journey.”
Burnley FC’s First Team, affectionately known as The Clarets by club supporters, is currently ranked in 18th position in the Premier League. Meanwhile, the women’s side is in sixth place in the WNL Northern Premier Division.
Manager of Burnley FC Women Matt Bee has announced that he will be leaving the club. Details of his new role have not yet been revealed, although a spokesperson for the club said that Bee is moving on to a more professional level.
New Dugouts at Turf Moor
On top of sponsoring the women’s team shirts, AstroPay is also sponsoring the newly installed dugouts at the club’s home ground. AstroPay’s branding is displayed on headrests as well as in the technical area. The new dugouts are part of a range of extensive stadium developments that the club has recently undertaken.
Turf Moor has been the home stadium of Burnley FC since 1883, making it the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football. The Lancashire ground has a capacity of 21,944, and was last refurbished in the 1990s. Commercial Director of Burnley FC Gordon Kaye took the opportunity to thank AstroPay for the support that has made its new developments possible, stating:
“We are delighted that AstroPay have further strengthened their support by becoming front of shirt sponsor for the women’s team and by sponsoring our new dugouts at Turf Moor. AstroPay join a growing number of sponsors choosing to support Burnley FC women’s team, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with them throughout the season.”
Online payment service AstroPay was first founded in 2009. Its app currently makes use of more than 200 payment methods and serves over 200 million users. After more than a decade in the business, AstroPay has expanded its reach through Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. It is now one of the most efficient and reliable payment solutions available, making it a popular choice with consumers.
As well as partnering with Burnley FC, AstroPay has also secured a number of sponsorship deals. In September 2021, it entered into a sponsorship deal with another famous Premier League side, Newcastle United FC. As part of the deal, AstroPay branding is shown on the pitch side LED displays during Premier League Matches.
In October of this year, AstroPay also signed a sponsorship deal with Sri Lanka Cricket. It is sponsoring the national cricket team for the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The deal marks the payment service’s first foray into cricket.
Government Reviews Legislation
Burnley FC’s principal shirt sponsor this season is betting operator Spreadex. A multimillion-pound deal was agreed in July, securing the gambling operator pitch-side ad space and features across Burnley’s social media channels. Spreadex offers fixed odds and spread betting, as well as a separate financial trading platform.
A new home kit featuring the Spreadex logo was designed especially for the 2021/22 Premier League season. As part of the partnership, Spreadex has collaborated with the club on a number of community and charity initiatives throughout the season.
This has included an incredibly successful pledge to donate a portion of the profits from every third-choice shirt sold to the Alzheimer’s Society. Spreadex agreed to match the club’s donation of £5 per shirt. In September, the club announced that the shirt was one of the most popular kits it has ever released, almost selling out in just two weeks.
Over recent years, a large number of Premier League clubs have signed sponsorship deals with gambling firms, sparking concerns for the welfare of fans that may be vulnerable to gambling harms. Nine out of twenty Premier League clubs are currently supported by gambling companies as shirt sponsors. Another six teams in the Championship also feature gambling shirt sponsors.
Together, those deals are estimated to be worth around £100 million a year. While some clubs have already started to distance themselves from gambling firms, most have opted to remain loyal to their sponsors. The coronavirus pandemic has caused financial difficulties for many clubs, but gambling sponsors have been key in enabling lots of clubs to continue.
It has been reported that the government is likely to ban gambling firms from sponsoring football shirts as part of wide-ranging reforms to its 2005 Gambling Act. However, the white paper which was due to be published before the end of the year has now been pushed forward indefinitely.
