Rangers FC has extended its long-running partnership with Swedish international gaming firm Kindred, showing a continuing strong relationship between betting and football in Scotland.
The Scottish Premiership club and gaming firm have a commercial relationship spanning 10 seasons, making it one of the most stable and visible in both Scottish and UK football. The club competes with the firm’s Unibet online sportsbook brand on the front of its shirts, having replaced its casino brand 32Red last year.
Unibet branding will also continue to feature on the club’s training war and warm up kits. In line with a wider industry and sporting trend around sports sponsorships, responsible gambling will play a key role in the partnership.
Rangers Chief Commercial Officer, Karim Virani, said: “Everyone at the club is absolutely delighted to extend our longstanding partnership with the Kindred Group. This partnership is the longest running of its kind in British football – and has helped the club enormously over what will be 15 years at the end of the deal we’ve announced today.
“Most importantly, we’d like to thank them for continuing their vital support of the club’s Foundation – especially through the Team Talk mental health initiative. The health and wellbeing of our local community is very important to ourselves and Kindred.
“We are all looking forward to the opportunity to continue driving forward new initiatives that will benefit both our supporters and the people of Glasgow.”
Betting’s relationship with sports, and football in particular, is at a crossroads in the UK following the public and political pressure experienced during the two-and-a-half year Gambling Act review.
Pressure on sports to completely cut commercial ties with betting were eased off when the English Premier League opted to phase out front-of-shirt betting sponsorships after the 2026/27 season. A code of conduct has also been adopted by most English sports governing bodies.
In Scotland, sports authorities have been taking their own approach. In an interview with Insider Sport last month, the Scottish Professional Football League’s (SPFL) CEO, Neil Doncaster, explained the league’s attitude to the future of sports sponsorship following a partnership with William Hill.
Regardless, responsibility has become a core focus of betting marketing in football in recent years in both England and Scotland. In the case of the Rangers partnership, Kindred plans to use the deal to showcase its ‘journey towards zero’ initiative, where the company has set itself a target of achieving 0% revenue from harmful gambling.
Sam Mead, General Manager UK, Kindred Group, said: “Kindred’s partnership with Rangers is British football’s longest running and one of the most impactful. Rangers are a club with a rich history, who have a passionate and loyal fanbase – so we are delighted to be partnering with the team once again.
“We join the supporters in wishing the team the very best in the ongoing season – together, we hope we can make it another successful one. We recognise that we are in the privileged position to support clubs and their communities – a responsibility we take very seriously.
“That’s why since we began working with Rangers, the basis of the partnership has always been to showcase the Rangers Charity Foundation’s wide-ranging work that is so important – including the men’s mental health initiative Team Talk. This fantastic work will continue over the course of our latest partnership.”
