William Hill Australia will no longer enjoy a courtside exposure at the Australian Open, as confirmed by Tennis Australia President Steve Healey on Thursday. The next edition of the Grand Slam tournament is set to take place on January 16-29, 2017.
The gambling operator, and its Australian division, to be more precise, made history last year when it penned an agreement to sponsor the major tennis contest. William Hill became the first-ever gambling company to secure a sponsorship deal for a Grand Slam tournament.
The partnership proved to be particularly successful for the operator. Allowed to promote in-play betting offering during the major tennis event, William Hill registered a massive market share increase and surge in online in-play betting turnover. As the company reported, the deal that represented a worldwide first for tennis brought a 200% jump in tennis turnover and around 14,000 new customer registrations in a two-week period, among other benefits.
The sponsorship agreement between William Hill Australia and Tennis Australia was signed in October 2015. Although no related details were made public, it was believed that it was worth A$5 million to Australia’s tennis governing body.
As confirmed on Thursday, the gambling operator will no longer have courtside presence at the Australian Open and it seems that the move came in a response to serious criticism and complaints regarding the controversial nature of the partnership. Anti-gambling organizations and officials have expressed deep concerns that Australian tennis has deepened its ties with gambling by providing a major bookmaker with greater brand visibility.
They have argued that this would encourage bettors into excessive gambling and that such practices have been somewhat trivialized through increased exposure and advertising activities.
The deal was scolded upon even more broadly after in January the BBC and BuzzFeed provided solid evidence of match-fixing practices during the Grand Slam tournament; suspicions were based on increased betting activity in rather questionable patterns.
William Hill Australia not having on-court signage at the Australian Open 2017 could also be considered part of the set of measures Tennis Australia is bound to take in relation to keeping the integrity of the sport. In that same note, the governing body announced earlier today that it would bolster monitoring and analysis capabilities to respond to growing concerns.
