To tweet or not to tweet? This could have been the million-dollar question that may have salvaged the agreement between sports betting site Winamax and Ligue 1 soccer club Girondins de Bordeaux. Their lucrative sponsorship contract that was signed last summer put $1.48 million in the club’s treasury every season.
Now, the deal is off after the French club has decided to abruptly terminate the contract after a series of tweets and videos regarding the club’s last match against Marseille. However, these twe 7BALL ets were not an isolated incident but merely a means for the front-of-shirt sponsor to step up its sarcasm and mockery aimed at the club.
Three Months’ Worth of Mockery Have Filled Up the Glass
Winamax, known for its humor-centered way of communicating, has spent the past three months writing approximately 20 mockery tweets aimed at the very club they chose to sponsor in the summer. The soccer club, however, considered the latest tweets and videos regarding the lost match against Marseille to be the last straw. Accordingly, they decided to terminate their partnership contract. One of the problematic tweets that led to the rupture was one in which Winamax was mockingly congratulating the soccer club for not conceding a new goal in the past 20 hours.
Girondins’ chief operating officer Thomas Jacquemier stated that, while the club does have a sense of humor of its own, Winamax’s communication has been a dissociative one that ultimately separated it from the club. Jacquemier added the club was no longer “in the spirit of a partnership” via a Twitter statement. Winamax quickly replied with yet another sarcastic tweet, saying they had been looking for “a good defense” but could not find one, similar to the Girondins.
While the soccer club supporters are known for making similarly sarcastic jokes after their team loses a game, the club believes this is simply unacceptable when it comes to partners and sponsors.
Girondins Expecting to Compensate the Lost Sponsorship Money
As part of the now-canceled deal, Winamax invested up to $1.48 in the French soccer club each season. However, the Girondins expect to successfully compensate the shortfall using “other income.” Moreover, the club that has chosen to keep its optimism and continue to trust its appeal has recently received a new sponsor under its umbrella.
Coeur Marine & Blanc is Girondins’ charitable foundation created less than two years ago. As of recently, the foundation has also turned into the club’s new sponsor. According to the club, Coeur Marine & Blank is better aligned with its values, which was not the case for Winamax.
The ending of the important partnership has attracted a series of contradictory opinions on social media, with some Twitter users expressing their support for Winamax, and other users siding with the French club’s firm reaction.
