- The Daily Racing Form’s ‘DRF Bets’ brand will sponsor Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN for the 2022 Formula 1 racing season.
- DRF Bets is available for advanced deposit horse wagering in a number of US states.
- The company’s sports betting platform known as ‘DRF Sports’ recently launched in Iowa.
This might not be the strangest sports betting related sponsorship deal in history but it is an odd fit. The Daily Racing Form’s ‘DRF Bets’ advance deposit wagering brand will sponsor the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN for the 2022 Formula 1 racing season.
We’ll run through the press release before we try and unpack the rationale for this deal. Here’s the ‘meat and potatoes’:
Daily Racing Form (“DRF”), a leading provider of premium data and authoritative editorial coverage to sports and horse racing enthusiasts in North America, and DRF Bets™, one of America’s fastest-growing online and mobile wagering platforms, announced today that DRF Bets™ will sponsor Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN for the 2022 Formula One racing season. The partnership will include the DRF Bets™ logo featured on the team car, VIP access to all races and other branding opportunities.
Daily Racing Form is “America’s Turf Authority since 1894” for sports and horse racing enthusiasts throughout North America, with DRF.com providing access to DRF Bets™. DRF Bets™ is the only top-rated betting solution fully integrated with exclusive data, analytics and expert picks, delivering a fully mobile-optimized solution through innovative tools, one-click access to data and past performances, and live HD video.
The Daily Racing Form and associated brands are owned by Affinity Interactive, and James Zenni, Chairman of Affinity Interactive, had this to say about the partnership with the Alfa Romeo F1 team:
“As we continue to grow the online and mobile wagering platforms of DRF Bets™, sponsoring a like-minded pioneer and visionary in Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN is a tremendous opportunity to showcase our platforms to dedicated Formula One racing fans around the world. We look forward to working with the ownership team to explore ways to expand the partnership.”
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN, had these comments about his new sponsor:
“DRF Bets™ is a growing brand in the sports betting industry, and we are proud to feature them on our car for the upcoming season.”
Actually, DRF Bets isn’t a ‘growing brand in the sports betting industry’. That’s the name of the Daily Racing Form branded advanced deposit horse race wagering platform. DRF Sports is the company’s sports betting brand that recently launched in Iowa.
The Daily Racing Form is a fine brand, as are their betting subsidiaries. Formula 1 racing is hugely popular internationally and it’ll definitely help their brand recognition having their logo plastered all over a race car. F1 racing had a worldwide TV audience of 433 million during the 2020 season and that’s a lot of eyeballs to expose the DRF Bets brand to. The problem is–for now at least–DRF Bets is a US based brand. They may have designs on international expansion but at this juncture is a US based enterprise.
There will be two F1 races held in the US this year–May 6-8 in Miami and October 21-23 in Austin, TX. Formula 1’s US viewing audience is growing rapidly–the live coverage of races on ESPN during the 2021 season averaged nearly a million viewers per event which is a year over year increase of 54%. These are great numbers and the F1 demographic is a perfect fit for sports betting. Horse racing not so much.
The report of the sponsorship on the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team website gives the impression that they’re not quite sure what to make of it either:
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN aims to be a winning pick for DRF Bets as the team welcomes the online and mobile wagering platform as a new partner. DRF Bets is part of Affinity Interactive, an omni-channel gaming industry leader with advanced technology, digital and media platforms, and an online betting presence, with nearly one million combined customers.
Daily Racing Form is “America’s Turf Authority since 1894” for sports and horse racing enthusiasts throughout North America, with DRF.com providing access to DRF Bets. DRF Bets is the only top-rated betting solution fully integrated with exclusive data, analytics and expert picks, delivering a fully mobile-optimized solution through innovative tools, one-click access to data and past performances, and live HD video.
DRF Bets branding will be visible on the team’s cars throughout the 2022 season, as well as on other team assets and properties.
The team has plenty of sponsors on board ranging from Acer computers to Web Eyewear sunglasses. There is a strongly European vibe to the sponsor profile but from a numbers standpoint alone it’s tough to argue with a Formula 1 car sponsorship. It is an odd pairing, to be sure. Like if Vauxhall Motors sponsored a NASCAR team, only in reverse.
