K8 Group
 | |
Type of site | Private |
|---|---|
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Headquarters | India |
| Area served | International |
| Industry | Online gambling |
| Services | online sports betting, poker, casino, games |
| URL | k8 |
K8 (also known as K8 entertainment group) is a network of international online casinos and online gambling companies, with over 15 million users. K8 has offices in almost 50 countries in the world; including the United Kingdom, The Philippines and Vietnam. K8 promotes itself by its sponsorships of UK premier league teams, West Bromwich Albion FC[1] and Manchester City,[2] and German football team FC Schalke 04.
Overview
[edit]K8 operates like a virtual casino, offering slots, table games such as Black Jack, poker and roulette, live dealers and sports betting, for each one of their websites.
In Asia, their most popular sites are Vietnamese-based, K8vina and K8vn. K8 casino is licensed under First Cagayan Philippines, to operate live betting, and operates according to the rules promulgated by the Regulatory Authority.
Their European expansion began in November 2015, with the establishment of UK-K8, whose headquarters are located in Birmingham, UK. They are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. UK-K8 is known for its use of the EveryMatrix’s platform to operate its website,[3] the partnership was announced in early 2017, and was integrated in their affiliate program and also gaming solutions.[4] To appeal to British users' needs, they also upgraded their sports betting with Golden Race platform, this means that bet settlement operations happen in real-time, due to Golden Race and EveryMatrix's sportsbook solutions, and has increased its reliability and usage amongst European users.[5]
K8 used a variety of marketing methods to introduce UK-K8, most notably the sponsorships of Premier League football teams.[6][7]
K8partner
[edit]K8 offers an affiliate program, which is noted for its generous commission structure, offering affiliates up to 50% of the revenue earned.
Sponsorships
[edit]K8 was the main partner and sponsor for Kunlun fighting,[8] a Chinese MMA event. Internationally, they are most well known for their football sponsorships, they also appointed German footballer, Michael Ballack as brand ambassador from 2015 to 2016, which coincided with their sponsorship of German football team FC Schalke 04.
In 2015, the online entertainment company became a sponsor of the Copa America in Chile, the third largest continental football event in the world.[9]
In 2016, K8 became the kit sponsor for the West Bromwich Albion FC, a Premier League football team. This became the football team's biggest sponsorship to date, which reportedly cost K8 over £5 million.[10] The partnership was mostly used as a marketing strategy to bring awareness to the European extension of the K8 group; UK-K8.[10][11] The sponsorship deal lasted only one season.
June 21, 2017, K8 announced a sponsorship agreement with Premier League club Manchester City. The multi-year deal includes advertisements on digiboards at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, and the right to offer trips and experiences to the public to meet the team.[12][13][14]
September 26, 2017, K8 announced a sponsorship agreement with Championship club, Cardiff City. The multi-year deal includes betting booths at Cardiff City Stadium, and the right to offer trips, tickets and experiences to the public to meet the team.[15]
Controversies
[edit]K8 is part of the recurring theme of increasingly larger numbers of gambling companies sponsoring Premier League teams.[16] In the 16/17 season, more than 50% of sponsorship shares were held by betting companies,[17] K8 being one of them. Also including their competitors, Dafabet and Bet365. Many were skeptical of K8's decision to sponsor Manchester City FC, due to the UK government's decision to review the gambling sector, to prevent over exposure to gambling, and to prevent the increasing number of gambling addiction. which has increased by 0.3% over the past three years.[18]
On the same day that K8 signed as a sponsor[14] for Manchester City, UK's Football Association announced that it will end all partnerships with betting companies, in light of recent betting incidents[19] and to combat addictions.
References
[edit]- ^ "West Brom announce new shirt sponsors for the forthcoming season - Birmingham Live". 5 May 2016.
- ^ "Man City expands in Asia with K8.com as regional betting partner". June 21, 2017.
- ^ "K8 chooses EveryMatrix software for UK casino relaunch". 18 May 2017.
- ^ "K8 Casino Website Goes Live in the UK via EveryMatrix Platform". 12 May 2017.
- ^ "EveryMatrix agrees K8 Gaming deal & upgrades sportsbook software". 7 February 2017.
- ^ "Asian-facing K8 Group inks two-year shirt deal with Premier League's West Brom". Calvinayre.com. 5 May 2016.
- ^ "Football sponsorships selling like hotcakes as new seasons loom". 22 June 2017.
- ^ "Davao's Grandeza excited to see action in Kunlun K8 Fight 4 World Tour". 22 April 2014.
- ^ "Chinese online gaming company K8.com sponsored 2015 Copa América". En.ytsports.cn. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
- ^ a b "West Brom unveils K8 Group as new shirt sponsor". 6 May 2016.
- ^ "Albion announce UK-K8.COM as new shirt sponsor | West Bromwich Albion". Wba.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
- ^ "City announce new betting partner in Asia".
- ^ "K8.com nets Manchester City 'Asia Betting Partnership'".
- ^ a b "Manchester City FC inks a multi-year deal with Kai-Fa Yule K8.com as their official betting partner in Asia". The Drum.
- ^ "Cardiff City announces K8.com as new betting partner".
- ^ Quella-Guyot, Amandin (29 June 2017). "Les casinos en ligne sponsors du Football | Sport Business". SportBusinessetMoi (in French). Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ "How gambling and betting companies have taken over the Premier League's shirts". 8 October 2016.
- ^ "Government mulling crackdown on bingo adverts and promotions during sporting events in gambling industry clampdown". 7 October 2016.
- ^ "FA ends sponsorships with betting firms as it looks to move beyond gambling controversy". The Drum.