La Liga Pivots Towards Asia with M88 Sports Betting Deal

La Liga is teaming up with M88 to pivot towards Asia and expand its footprint in the region. The agreement will last four seasons.

La Liga Eyes Asian Expansion with M88 Partnership

M88 has signed a partnership with the Spanish Premier League, La Liga. The operator, which is targeting the Asian market, will give La Liga a whole new market to expand into and gain new fan bases in the region.

Based on the partnership, M88 will be the official La Liga’s sports betting partner in Asia for a period of four seasons and all through the 2023/2024 season. M88 will bring exclusive content to Asian fans, including online activations and various promotions geared towards soccer fans in the region.

La Liga will try to get a better engagement out of Asian fans, allowing the league to expand more confidently, sell merchandise, and generate better viewership ratings. Fans will have opportunities to win various prizes, including merchandise and match tickets.

La Liga’s director of business, marketing and international development, Oscar Mayo, was excited at the opportunity to increase La Liga’s footprint in Asia and attract more loyal fans for the league. He specifically had this to add:

“With fans looking for increasingly local and entertaining content, the agreement with M88 gives us a new way to reach new audiences and show them a side to the competition they haven’t seen before”

Commenting on the partnership, an M88 spokesperson explained that La Liga’s popularity throughout Asia is growing and that M88 will work to boost awareness for the Spanish soccer championship and bring new members.

Spain is one of the countries to be affected by rather onerous sports betting and gambling laws that predict to suspend most gambling firms signage from soccer clubs’ merchandise, T-shirts, and home stadiums.

Restrictive Gambling Measures across Europe

Nevertheless, established companies such as Betway have not shied away from the opportunity to cement their position in the country. La Liga is exploring the possibility of revenue slumps due to the coronavirus and the sudden belligerence of the government towards the sector by hedging in new markets.

M88, though, is not a company with pristine reputation. In June, the UK Gambling Commission opened an investigation into M88, exploring different aspects of the business model and operations of the company.

Upon concluding the investigation, AFC Bournemouth decided to cut all ties with M88 without offering much in the way of explanation. Meanwhile, AC Milan agreed to team up with Yabo Sports and also expand in Asia.

The team is also trying to counterweigh a ban on gambling advertisement in Italy which came into effect on January 1, 2019.