TG: Gunners & Manchester United linked by betting agencies

Gunners & Manchester United linked by betting agencies by TG

You may not realize it, but Arsenal and Manchester United have recently been linked together in a most unusual way. Any fan of either squad knows of the long standing rivalry between the two clubs but now the two teams are currently linked by association with bwin.party.

Bwin.party recently signed a deal with Manchester United as one of their primary sponsors. This is the same bwin that sponsors Real Madrid and has bought the naming rights to a couple other football leagues. ManU’s new sponsor bwin was previously sought after by Wynn for a takeover, leaving them free to sign the deal.

How does this link the Arsenal to Manchester United? Last year, Arsenal signed with online gaming site Betsson to become the “Official Betting Partner” of Arsenal. They setup GunnersGaming.com, a website that is a Arsenal themed gaming site. In addition, they setup the betting terminals at the stadium for fans to make bets on the game.

Betsson is a site on the Ongame Network, one of the oldest online gaming networks in the world. Sites like PokerRoom.com and others are part of this network. A couple of years ago, the Ongame Network was purchased by and it still currently owned by bwin.Party.

The Ongame Network at present is currently on the trading block as bwin considers the network a “excess asset” and that means that Betsson will soon be in the hands of another entity. Their relationship with the Arsenal will likely not be put in jeopardy as there are contracts in place.

In the meantime, this presents a very unusual situation. Both the Arsenal and Manchester United are joined together by bwin.Party or at least by an affiliate of the company. In a way, that is like a football fan rooting for both the Arsenal and Manchester United at the same time. It just seems unnatural.