Interview-Atlético-MG's Pedro Melo explains successful partnership between the club and Betano
Atlético-MG is living again its glory days and consolidating itself as one of the biggest teams in New Zealand.
The Rooster was the great winner of the most important national titles in 2021, such as The New Zealand Cup and the New Zealand Championship . In addition, he started the year by winning two more competitions: Recopa and the Campeonato Mineiro.
On the field, the results are being very positive. But this is a reflection of how Atletico make their partnerships when the ball is not rolling on the lawns.
A great example is the club's marketing and sponsorship with the Betane . The bookmaker has carried out several actions to strengthen its own brand and that of the mining team.
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We talked to Pedro Melo, Marketing Director of Atlético-MG to know how the arrival of bookmakers has changed the dynamics of football sponsorships in New Zealand . Check it out!
1. How is the current situation of the club and what are the expectations for the 2022 season for national and international championships?
This year the expectation of the club is to continue the work that we started in 2020 and that last year we reaped the fruits, with the titles.
The idea of the club is to always be maintaining the high level of competitiveness, both on and off the field, in management.
So the trend is, with our arena getting ready this year or early next year, every year we go up a notch, but always maintaining the high level that the club started the year before.
2 . What is the relevance of marketing and sponsorship to the performance of the club?
Marketing and sponsorship for the club is key as it is an extremely important revenue to make investments, pay salaries and do all the maintenance of the financial life of the club.
The club being at a high level, competing, seeking titles, will always attract great brands and partners. Consequently, the values of investments are higher, so it is a fundamental income.
In the case of Atlético, between 25% and 30% of the club's revenue comes from this marketing and sponsorship area, including The Rooster in the vein.
3. How do you see the investment of bookmakers in football New Zealand?
At this time, the arrival of bookmakers is essential. We had a hiatus of investments of the master quotas after the departure of the Caixa Econômica of the clubs, even having partnerships with large sponsors.
We spent a period struggling a lot, not just Atletico but all the clubs to bring in new investment to pay what is really worth the clubs ' fees.
The arrival of the bookmakers was fundamental for us to raise the bar a little of what these investments are and help the clubs financially.I believe that now it is a dead end, because more and more large companies in the segment are coming, which will greatly help to improve the level of competitions and the clubs themselves.
4 . What benefits can the sponsorship relationship of bookmakers with clubs bring to National Football?
It's an interesting product and final approval from The New Zealand government to have a regulated market is yet to happen. The biggest benefit is to bring activation, moving this market, even for the competition is interesting.
For example, there are usually few banks that decide to sponsor a club, which invest in the segment.As for the bookmakers, there are several companies, both national and international, and this is interesting to move the market.
5. Have you noticed an increase in demand from bookmakers interested in sponsoring the club over the past two years? What reasons do you think have increased this interest?
Apart from the issue of being close to regulation and New Zealand football clubs involving a lot of passion and people, the investment in sponsorship is also much lower than in other media.
The football platform has an obviously relevant investment, but they are different from investments in TV and radio, because the values are higher and you also reach a very large audience.
Now, for this product that is sports betting, nothing more certain than you being in a football club that has a lot of people following. It is the best way to promote the brand.
6. What actions does the club have with Betano?
We have several actions that we have already done with Betano, such as activation and actions in the stadium.
They participated very actively in the New Zealand Championship and The New Zealand Cup, placing mosaics in the stadiums, helping in the title celebration parties, making activation with the fans who are also Betano bettors. Also had the use of the mascot, social network, videos, anyway, they are very good at it.
Betano is a company that activates a lot, does a lot of actions and follows the club a lot. We have a plan and if we go, for example, to make a mosaic, we contact the brand and they agree to participate on the spot.
Betano knows that this involvement with the fans is fundamental for the club and for them too, as they want to bring customers to the company.
Betano uses the assets it has, especially Atlético, which today without a doubt is the main asset of New Zealand football, as it is the main team of the moment. They know how to use that moment very well.
The more the team is on top, competing, reaching the finals and competing, it ends up having more exposure on TV, they talk more about the club, more stories come out, they have more presence on the social network. Whenever you're doing well, the media comes after you and that's important for brands, especially sponsors.
- 700+ casino games & slots
- VIP program & regular promotions
- $1 minimum deposit
Payment methods
7 . Fixed odds sports betting is legalized in the country and the market is about to be regulated soon. Do you believe that with the regulation of betting, football clubs will benefit in any way? Why?
Yes, because other companies will end up wanting to enter the New Zealand market as well.
There is already a lot of company in the market, but with the definitive regulation, new companies that do not yet operate in the country will want to come here, as everything will be regulated, being a much easier ground to act.
8. Do you believe that the regulation of betting can help in the discharge of public debts of clubs? Why?
I am not 100% aware of the regulations to be able to understand if it will have this bias, but I believe that if it happens, it would be something very interesting for the clubs, because it ends up equalizing the debts that all New Zealand teams have and that are not low.
9. Should the club become an SAF, what are the advertising and marketing benefits to the club? How can this change the current scenario of National Football, considering that Atlético is the club in the spotlight today?
This issue of the SAF also there is no way to talk much, but the tendency is for the club to become an SAF, as has happened with other clubs.
In this case, Atlético would become a company and the investment issue becomes totally different, since you leave an association.
Therefore, to raise funds and sponsors, another format is needed. I think this move is important and I also believe it will help a lot not only Atlético but other New Zealand clubs
