ESPN teams with William Hill for ESPN Goals
November 15, 2012
As the Barclays Premier League season gathers momentum, ESPN has reached an integrated sponsorship agreement with William Hill for its enhanced – free – ESPN Goals mobile application in the UK.
Now in its third season and featuring recently-introduced enhancements, ESPN Goals brings UK football fans action and goals from every single Barclays Premier League match – within just minutes of it taking place – for free on smartphone devices.
William Hill will be the exclusive betting partner for the app, which will feature a William Hill ‘bet now’ button – housed on the live scores pages of the app – enabling ESPN Goals users to place bets, in real-time, without leaving the app itself via William Hill. Live odds will also be pulled directly into the app within a branded betting zone to provide a contextually relevant betting experience.
William Hill will also have exclusive branding presence on the app loading page, plus rich-media display banners throughout the app’s various sections. Additionally, short William Hill video ads will run as pre-rolls around goals and highlights video clips, with bumpers around longer-form content such as studio analysis.
Alan Fagan, group sales director, ESPN EMEA, said: “This new partnership demonstrates our ability to offer brands integrated, innovative and relevant advertising solutions, connecting them with football fans on whichever device is most relevant.”
A William Hill spokesman said: “Britain’s biggest bookmaker, William Hill, is a huge supporter of football, as demonstrated through key partnerships with England Football, the FA Cup, the Scottish Cup, Scotland Football and the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. Our business is customer focused and this deal with ESPN will enhance the football experience for William Hill customers.”
For this season, ESPN Goals features some exciting new features including:
– Fans can watch video from selected ESPN studio-based programming, such as its pre- and post-match studio analysis around its live televised football coverage
– Introducing in-app social media functionality: video highlights can be shared with other ESPN Goals users and friends who do not have the app
– Personalisation: allowing fans to track all videos, fixtures, news and scores around their clubs,
ESPN Goals is available at no cost to football fans, via Apple iTunes, Android Market, Nokia’s OVI Store, the Blackberry App World, and Windows Phone Marketplace – covering the entire range of major smartphone platforms. For information, go to www.espngoals.com. ESPN Goals complements ESPN’s multi-platform football offering. Online and on mobile, ESPN provides UK fans with the latest news, information, analysis, and exclusive video on ESPN.co.uk and ESPNFC.com, the sports media company’s recently announced worldwide multimedia football initiative. On TV, ESPN brings fans the Barclays Premier League, plus, a wide range of UK and European football, which this season also includes the FA Cup, UEFA Europa League, Bundesliga, Clydesdale Bank Premier League, and, other European domestic leagues.