Sports Events and Sportsbook Marketing Campaign Ideas for August and September 2019

We won’t lie. The first half of the year has passed by quicker than David Beckham’s free kicks. Major sports events like Premiere League 2018/2019, Super Bowl, Wimbledon have passed, but the excitement is not yet over. We still have the second half of 2019 left for even more thrilling events that are yet to come. So, let’s see what kind of major sports events could be waiting for you in August and September 2019 to plan some amazing sportsbook marketing campaigns!

August

3rd August: Football – 2019 DFL-Super Cup, Dortmund

August is going to take off with the 2019 DFL-Super Cup final match between BVB Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern München. Also known as the German Super Cup, this annual football match is played between the Bundesliga champions and DFB-Pokal winners from the previous season.

Since FC Bayern München won both games last season, they will have to face Dortmund, the runners-up, as their opponents for this final kick-off. On top of all those victories claimed by Bayern, they also won the 2018 DFL-Super Cup. Here’s a snippet of them celebrating their win last year:

We all have to agree that they are one tough team indeed! So, what do you think? Will Dortmund beat their mighty opponents this Saturday? Or will the all-time champion play unsparingly fierce?

And, to our surprise, the 2019 DFL-Super Cup is not the only match this month where the champion will have to play head-to-head with the runner-up. (Hint: The answer is in the next section!)

4th August: Football – Community Shield, Manchester City v Liverpool, Wembley

Next up is the 2019 Community Shield match between Manchester City and FC Liverpool happening this Sunday at Wembley Stadium. Just like the DFL Super Cup, this annual football match is played between the winners of the previous season’s Premier League and FA Cup. Since Manchester City won both competitions in 2018, they will have to play against the runners-up in the league, i.e., Liverpool, to fight for the shield. Will the 2-time champion claim the victory again? Or will the underdog score the winning goal this time? We will have to find out this Sunday!

9th August: Football – Premier League 2019/2020 season starts

The excitement doesn’t stop there as Premier League 2019/2020 season will start next Friday, 9th August and continue until 17th May 2020. This marks the 28th season of the Premier League, the top English professional football league, which was established since 1992.

Interestingly, it is going to be the first-ever season in the Premier League history to have a “mid-season player break,” which is a 10-day break in February to give players a rest. This means that five out of ten matches assigned on 8th Feb 2020 will be postponed to the weekend commencing 15th February 2020. It is also said to be the first season to use Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to avoid conflicting game results.

Out of the twenty participating teams, FC Liverpool will be playing against Norwich City as the first match of the season. If you want to plan your campaigns well ahead, check out https://www.premierleague.com/fixtures for more detailed club-by-club fixtures.

14th August: Football – UEFA European Super Cup, Istanbul

It looks like bets will be pouring in for the bookmakers as 2019 UEFA European Super Cup will take place on 14th August, just five days after the new Premier League season begins.

The UEFA Super Cup is a one-off match between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League, i.e., FC Liverpool and FC Chelsea for this season. What’s exciting about this match is that it’s going to be the first UEFA Super Cup to have two English teams go head to head, although it’s definitely not the first time for those two champions to play against each other. However, which team will bring the trophy back home is another story yet to unfold on that day.

Since such one-of-a-kind matches are taking place back-to-back, sportsbook operators should also bring your A-game to hype up your customers. For example, you could run a sportsbook marketing campaign where you hand out €10/£10 risk-free bets on the FA Community Shield (aka English Super Cup) between FC Liverpool and Manchester City when punters bet at least €10/£10 on the German Super Cup between BVB Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich.

Do this as a reactivation campaign and send that to those customers that haven’t been active on your platform for two months.

If you want to be extra fancy, you could also raffle VIP trips to the 2019 UEFA Super Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea in Istanbul on 14 August 2019. Reward your returning customers with this special campaign when they turnover at least €20/£20 on sports betting in one week.

This could also be a fantastic campaign to capture on video by the way to highlight the great experiences customers can have with you as an operator.

Don’t just send them to the game. Let the experience go viral!

26th August – 8th September: Tennis – US Open

The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year, after the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. Since it is the last major tennis competition of the year, this is the best time to impress your tennis enthusiasts with your attractive marketing campaigns.

Last year, Naomi Osaka (2018 Women’s Champion) shocked global tennis fans by beating Serena Williams and won her first Grand Slam title, which also made her the first Japanese player to win the Grand Slam singles title. In this heart-touching interview, Naomi shared her feelings after she won her very first US Open game.

But, who’s going to strike the winning ball this year? While we’re thrilled with so many possibilities lying ahead, let’s relive last year’s triumphant moments from 2018 US Men’s final match between Novak Djokovic and Del Potro, which made Djokovic a three-time US Open Men’s Champion.

The full schedule of the US Open 2019 tournament can be found at their official page.

31st August – 15th September: Basketball – FIBA 2019, China

Held once every four years, FIBA World Cup Championship will make a comeback this year with its 18th edition played in China for the first time ever. A total of 96 games are scheduled for 16 days from 31st August to 15th September. Unlike previous tournaments, the 2019 edition will be the biggest flagship event yet for FIBA, featuring a record of 32 participating teams from five continents. It seems like August is signing right off with a bam for our bookmaker peeps.

With qualifying rounds have been played since 2017 to get into the final spotlight in 2019, the competition is going to be nothing less than fierce. While the audiences will be busy counting scores on the board, sportsbooks, on the other hand, can provide your punters with some interesting sportsbook marketing campaigns that keep them engaged during the tournament – and increase the turnover.

Betting on basketball is different from association football. First of all, basketball games always determine a winner. If a winner isn’t found after the regular time, there will pretty much always be overtime (how extra time is called there). So it’s not a 1X2 bet, but rather a 12 bet. And since basketball covers so much more in terms of statistics you have a much bigger variety in terms of basketball betting.

Reward your punters with a campaign on their home team. Let’s say they are German and they bet €10 on each of the three group matches of the German national team and you will grant them a €10 free bet on the big final match if their team is one of the two competing teams.

Or you can make it more interesting with point spreads where your punters need to bet at least three point spreads in the group stage to get rewarded with a bonus for the next stages.

Refer to the FIBA game schedule table below to plan your marketing campaigns meticulously.

September

11th – 14th September: Horse Racing – The Williams Hill St Leger Festival, Doncaster

Not to be missed this month is The Williams Hill St Leger Festival, one of the most prestigious races in the British horse racing calendar. It is not only the oldest and longest, but also the fifth and final of the five British classics of the year, whose rich history can be dated back to 1776.

As the name suggests, this year’s event is sponsored by none other than William Hills. The race is for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies, and it will be held at Doncaster racecourse, which runs over 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 115 yards (2,921 metres).

As the final flat race of the season, this event attracts an astonishing crowd of punters as they have been studying the horses for the whole season to wager on the best ones. So, buckle up, bookies! This 4-day event will get more and more intense as each day passes. You better prepare the latest and freshest deals to update daily throughout the festival!

6th -10th September: Football – UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Tournament

Unlike other matches we’ve mentioned in this article, Euro 2020 is an ongoing tournament which is already being played since March 2019. This qualifying tournament will determine which 24 teams will advance to the UEFA 2020 final tournament which will begin in mid-June 2020.

For the first time since 1976, none of the host countries will automatically qualify for the UEFA European Championship from now on. This major announcement also means the teams will be playing harder than ever against each other, especially for the home team. No soft pass, please!

Dates for qualifying matches happening in September are from the 5th to the 10th of the month. You can also find out more details about club fixtures on UEFA Euro 2020 official website.

20th September – 2nd November: Rugby – Rugby World Cup 2019, Japan

September is greeting us with yet another major sports events of the year, i.e., Rugby World Cup 2019, which is taking place in Japan from 20th September until 2nd November. This is the first time this prestigious event is going to set foot in Asia and is also rumored to be the most popular tournament to date with more than 5.5 million tickets sold currently!

The Rugby World Cup is claimed to be the third-largest sports event in the world after the Summer Olympics and the Football World Cup. We would, however, argue to include other events like the NFL Super Bowl in the higher rank as well. With a reputation of being the global centerpiece event in the Rugby world, this event is a dream stage for Rugby Union players from all over the world.

New Zealand was crowned as the champions after beating Team France with 29–9 in 2015, but who will take the trophy back home this year? Before we decide which nation to root for, here are some of the best moments of the 2015 Rugby World Cup to look back on:

The hype is already on, bookmakers! All you have to do is be visible and lead the crowd to your business. Looking at the 2015 final it could make sense to lead your players towards totals betting. Have some campaigns ready for that. And since it’s a World Cup, we suggest you target players from countries where Rugby Union is important, i.e. Wales, United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy in Europe, or South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Japan if you want to target worldwide. You could come up with campaigns for countries and world regions, like which region will score more points: The British Isles or Oceania.

Conclusion

That’s a wrap for the major sports events coming up in August and September 2019. You better plan some irresistible marketing campaigns for your customers, because these tournaments are making comebacks which are bigger and stronger than they have ever been!

If you are in need of professional translation and localization experts for your betting campaigns, we are here to make the magic happen. You can be the champion of sports betting too!

So, before we conclude this blog, here is a line-up of the events we have mentioned just now:

• 4th August: Football – Community Shield, Manchester City v Liverpool, Wembley
• 9th August: Football – Premier League 2019/2020 season starts
• 14th August: Football – UEFA European Super Cup, Istanbul
• 26th August – 8th September: Tennis – US Open
• 31st August – 15th September: Basketball – FIBA 2019, China
• 6th – 10th September: Football – UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Tournament
• 11th – 14th September: Horse Racing – The Williams Hill St Leger Festival, Doncaster
• 20th September – 2nd November: Rugby – Rugby World Cup 2019, Japan