Premier League club Aston Villa has announced that cryptocurrency casino and sportsbook Duelbits will be its official European betting partner for the coming season, despite its only European licence being for a GB white label site that is not currently live.
Duelbits launched in 2020 and has a gaming licence from Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao.
In Great Britain, where cryptocurrency gambling is not permitted, it is allowed to operate on a white label licence held by TGP Europe, a frequent white label provider for English football sponsors. However, this site is not currently active. Great Britain is the only European market in which DuelBits is licensed.
Its site is available in some other European countries, though it is also not licensed in these jurisdictions.
The deal will allow for Duelbits branding on pitch-side LED boards during games at the club’s home at Villa Park despite the inability of local fans to access the site.
Aston Villa described Duelbits as a “crypto casino” in announcing the launch, and cited the url of the Curaçao-licensed crypto gambling site, despite its crypto products and the site in general not being permitted in Great Britain.
Nicola Ibbetson, chief commercial officer at Aston Villa said she was “pleased” with the new partnership.
“It was clear from our first conversations that their ambition to challenge and to grow matches our own. We look forward to working together this season,” he said.
Marco Pinnisi, chief marketing officer at Duelbits said the business was determined to work with well-known clubs.
“We felt it was the right time to give the brand the visibility it deserved and we couldn’t see a better way than sponsoring one of the most well-known Premier League clubs. This partnership underlines Duelbits’ desire to work with the most prestigious sports brands.”
Aston Villa have previously experimented with cryptocurrency through the launch of Socios-powered “Aston Villa Token”. More than 70% of the token’s value has been wiped off from its peak in December 2021.
Aston Villa has previously been sponsored by other gaming operators including three Asian-facing brands: W88, LT and OB sports. All three held white-label licences for the GB market, but were more popular in Asia.
