Just last week Premier League chief Richard Scudamore suggested clubs offer fans free travel to boost attendances at away games and that is exactly what Fulham’s new main sponsor Marathoinbet did for 200 lucky fans for their first game of the 2013/14 season.
But this was no run-of-the-mill marathon motorway journey.
En route to the first game of the season at the Stadium of Light, the four sponsor coaches stopped off a pub for a scheduled pit stop.
In addition to this being a spot to let fans refuel and grab a pre-match pint, it also saw Marathonbet exclusively unveil Fulham’s new third kit and gave each travelling fan a new shirt for the match.
Thus ensuring that those committed, hardcore away fans became the first people to pull the new strip on!
In another fan-friendly touch, the man pulling pints behind the bar was Fulham legend Luis Boa Morte who served fans, ate with them, chatted to them about his experiences and the new season ahead and posed for photos.
And to top the trip off for the Fulham faithful, their team came away with all three points after a narrow 0:1 win.
Comment
A great start to the new season for the two hundred travelling Fulham fans.
There has been much criticism of the recent influx of betting brands into the Premiership partnership firmament in recent years, but one way for a new partner to build a trusting dialogue with fans is to provide them with something genuinely useful and usable and to offer a unique experience.
And that is just the approach used by new shirt sponsor Marathonbet when it laid on free coach travel for their away game against Sunderland
Fulham announced Marathonbet as the team’s new principle sponsor in July in what it described as the biggest partnership deal in the club’s history.
The sponsorship will see the Marathonbet logo displayed on the playing shirts worn by the First Team and its Under-21s for the next two seasons, with an option on a third year.
The objective for the betting brand is to enhance international awareness of its brand and drive activity, particularly in its live, in-play markets, through both the Premier League’s 700m household and 200 country broadcast reach together with Fulham ‘s own media platforms
‘I’m delighted that Marathonbet has joined us as our Main Team Sponsor and we look forward to working with them in the future. As a dynamic and inventive brand, I believe that Marathonbet shares the Club’s objectives in terms of development and innovation,’ says Fulham FC CEO Alistair Mackintosh.
While Graham Luke, President and CEO of Marathonbet, adds: ‘Fulham Football Club is the ideal partner and ideal platform from which Marathonbet can introduce itself as the sportsbook: ‘where the world comes to play’. Marathonbet, like Fulham is unique in its tradition and values, and I am excited at the prospect of developing a successful partnership’.
Links
Campaign Video YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCm2pucx0D0&feature=c4-overview&list=UU2VLfz92cTT8jHIFOecC-LA
Marathonbet Website
Fulham Website
