Intralot seals Australian soccer sponsorship deal

Under the agreement Intralot Australia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Greece's Intralot S.A, will receive prominent branding on the front of the Melbourne Victory A-League and Youth League playing shirts.
 
Melbourne Victory FC is the largest and most successful club in the Australian A-League, with the largest average crowds of any club. It is the only club to complete the domestic treble, winning the Challenge Cup, Premiership and Championship, all in the 2008–09 season.

Geoff Lord, Melbourne Victory Chairman, said: "We're pleased to welcome Intralot Australia into our organization and see many exciting collaborative opportunities in the future. They are an emerging company in Victoria and we look forward to helping them grow their brand. In fact, the focus that both of our companies have on Melbourne and Victoria, helps make this partnership a perfect fit."

Intralot Australia's General Manager, Leo Watling, said the partnership was the first of several new initiatives in Victoria for the Melbourne-based gaming operator. "Intralot is proud to be undertaking its first major Victorian sponsorship with the A-League’s most successful club and one that has fought and won challenges similar to those confronted by our company,” he said.

"Intralot Australia is a new player in the Victorian gaming market facing an entrenched and dominant rival, although our games are different. Over four years ago, Melbourne Victory broke into a market dominated by a rival game, the AFL, and after a disappointing start to its first season, it has won two of the past three grand finals and has attracted enormous spectator and membership support.

"Like Melbourne Victory, we plan to break new ground in the state; in fact we have already had over 4.3 million winners so far. This partnership gives us the opportunity to continue growing our brand and ultimately achieve the level of success that Melbourne Victory has attained,” said Watling.

Since being awarded a ten-year lottery license by the Victorian Government in 2007, Intralot Australia has faced mounting criticisms, with lottery sales from its first year of operation failing to reach the levels achieved under its previous operator, Tattersall's.  It had held a monopoly on lottery sales for over fifty years.