-, 09.06.2021

• Unique "King of Europe" tournament: One million euros in prizes for the five best national teams made up of influencers and fans
• Concept and realisation in cooperation with Kolle Rebbe

London/Vienna, June 09, 202 - During the season, the fans are rivals and anxious with their clubs. But from 11 June, the differences no longer matter, because for the European Championship all football enthusiasts have the same goal: to see their respective national team win. During these four weeks, everyone stands together, wears the same jerseys and sings the same anthem. This contrast – Rivals and United – is at the heart of the new campaign of Europe's largest sports betting provider bwin, a brand of Entain plc. While the motifs of the campaign during the European Championship emphasise the shared excitement with the respective national teams, before and after the tournament it is the rivalries of the clubs.

bwin is rolling out the campaign across Europe. From now on, it will be played out simultaneously in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Romania and United Kingdom. The images have been adapted for each country and depict the biggest football rivalries in colour. For example, German fans wear red and black and yellow, while Austrian fans wear green and purple. The clubs with which bwin has partnership links supported the filming, including Borussia Dortmund and 1. FC Köln. In countries where bwin is not represented, the campaign is adapted by Entain's respective locally represented sports betting brands. The entire creative concept and its implementation was developed by Kolle Rebbe.

Stephan Heilmann, Managing Director Digital Europe Entain: "This campaign is a premiere, with which we want to set new standards across Europe: With 'Rivals United', we are underlining our anchoring in both local markets and international competitions in an innovative way. bwin is once again leaving the pitch to football-mad fans who support their teams with passion. Together with the unique 'King of Europe' tournament, in which influencers and fans play as a team for first place, we show what the bwin brand stands for: For authenticity as well as entertainment with integrity and a sense of responsibility."

In Germany, bwin is advertising in the run-up to the European Championship with TV commercials surrounding the international matches broadcast by RTL and the U21 European Championship on ProSieben and ProSiebenMaxx. bwin is also a betting partner of Magenta TV. In addition, bwin has set up a large-scale TV campaign until 23 June, with all channels that fit the sports-savvy target group, including DAZN, Eurosport, ProSieben, RTL and Sky. From the quarter-finals onwards, bwin will also be presenting spots for the first time on the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

Different motifs will be placed online and on mobile devices on all high-reach platforms such as Kicker, Bild Online, Spiegel Online and T-Online as well as extensively in the social media area. The campaign will also be extended on bwin.de in Germany as well as bwin.com in Austria and in the bwin social media channels.

In Austria, bwin is a partner of ORF. There, the TV campaign will be presented around the live matches of the Euro. Here, too, bwin is addressing its target group with additional spots until 23 June, including Sky, PULS4 and Servus TV. A strong digital and social media presence, as well as out-of-home and audio allocations, round off the attention-grabbing presence.

With "King of Europe", the tournament for fans, the successful sports betting provider is also breaking new ground within the campaign: from 9 June until the European Championship final, country teams will compete against each other. Then it's time for sports fans in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Greece, Romania and United Kingdom to "Choose your team. Play together." The five best teams share the jackpot of one million euros, with 500,000 euros in the winning team divided equally between all participants.

To support the "King of Europe" promotion campaign, celebrity influencers per team are also on board in Austria, Belgium and Germany. They regularly create new content, place their bets and encourage fans to support their team with betting suggestions and small challenges. In this way, they activate their community and bring their followers into contact with the bwin brand.

The tournament for fans is supported by social and news channels from SPOX, Goal and DAZN Player as well as via the Instagram and other social media accounts of the influencers.

Christoph Bielefeldt, Creative Unit Director Kolle Rebbe: "Divided in colours, united in cause - even the greatest rivalries in football rest when it comes to the love of the game or supporting the national team at major tournaments. Since this football truth unites the whole of Europe, we have made it the basic idea of our campaign for nine European markets. In individually produced films, we portray the different national rivalries: as usual from bwin, with the greatest possible authenticity and closeness to the fans."

The media planning was done in-house together with the agency media plan. The media budget is in the double-digit million euro range.

bwin is the official sports betting partner of the German national team and the German Football Association (DFB) as well as sponsor of the U21 national team. In addition, bwin is the exclusive sports betting partner of the teams Borussia Dortmund, 1. FC Köln, FC St. Pauli, 1. FC Union Berlin and SG Dynamo Dresden and has been the main partner of the 3rd league since 2017.

Link to the campaign: https://youtu.be/7_djLf3PulU

bwin on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bwinSportwetten/
and on twitter: @bwin_com

Press contact:
Hartmut Schultz Kommunikation GmbH
P: +49 (0)89 99249620
E: hs@schultz-kommunikation.de

About bwin
bwin is the leading sports betting brand of Entain, a global listed gaming company. Entain plc (LSE: ENT) (Formerly GVC Holdings plc) is a FTSE100 company and is one of the world’s largest sports-betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail sector. The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands. Sports Brands include bet.pt, bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds and Sportingbet; Gaming Brands include CasinoClub, Foxy Bingo, Gala, Gioco Digitale, partypoker and PartyCasino. The Group owns proprietary technology across all of its core product verticals and in addition to its B2C operations provides services to a number of third-party customers on a B2B basis. The Group’s unique technology platform also powers BetMGM, the joint-venture it operates with MGM Resorts to capitalise on the rapidly regulating US sports betting and iGaming market. Entain is tax resident in the UK with licenses in more than 20 countries, across five continents. The Group’s commitment to delivering sustainability and growth is recognised through its membership of the FTSE4Good and DJSI ESG indices, which identify companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.
For more information see the Group’s website: https://entaingroup.com/