Will Hill to sponsor TV show

William Hill Bingo is to focus attention on its offering by sponsoring ITV’s popular UK daytime show “The Real Deal” in 2009. The online gaming site recently completed a similar campaign as programme sponsors for the games on Spin Star last November.
Starting on Monday 5th January, until mid-April, the 4 month deal will be used to raise awareness of the gambling group’s bingo brand and attract new customers. The demographic of the home bingo player and the viewer of daytime game shows like Spin Star and the Real Deal are apparently very similar.
The strapline: “William Hill Bingo Thrill’ is the topic for the programme bumpers shown during breaks in each show, whilst the Real Deal asks participants to get their thrill by taking a gamble on whether they accept the antique dealer’s cash offer, or take a risk at auction.
“For an initial foray into actual programme sponsorship, we were very pleased with the response from the Spin Star association.” said Hills spokesperson Lili Huang, “We’re delighted to have this opportunity of sponsoring the Real Deal, because the programme has the potential for a far bigger audience with its current scheduling.”
Following the finalisation of the initial deal with Playtech leading to the formation of William Hill Online , William Hill Bingo is now part of the consolidated website.
The Real Deal is hosted by antique dealer and TV presenter David Dickinson, and aired on ITV1 Monday to Friday between 2pm to 3pm.
This week also saw William Hill pick its unluckiest gambler…and brighten his day a little. The UK bookie group has declared 52-year-old father of four Paul Greenwood from Barnsley their unluckiest punter of 2008 after launching a nationwide hunt for the year’s most frustrating tough luck betting story.
Paul made a disastrous decision back on the first of March 2008 by placing his weekly GBP10 accumulator bet on 14 football teams winning over the weekend. But, having initially included his favourite side, at the last second he decided to change his mind, and replaced Manchester United, who were playing Fulham, with Arsenal, who were up against Aston Villa.
Sadly for Paul, his first 13 selections won their games – as did Manchester United. But Arsenal could only draw, turning a potential GBP 795 000 win into a GBP10 loss.
William Hill plc spokesman Graham Sharpe said: “Against a great deal of competition from punters beaten by a short-head or a fall in horse races, we have declared Paul officially the unluckiest punter in the UK. I would think our customers will be desperate to know what Paul places his GBP 1 000 free bet on, so they can avoid it!”

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