LONDON, MONTREAL and NEW YORK (July 7 2014) – Optimal Payments Plc
(LSE AIM: OPAY), a leading global online payments provider, announced
today that it has become the official sponsor of Crystal Palace Football
Club for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
Optimal Payments will use the platform to raise the global awareness
of its award-winning NETELLER service and Net+® Card stored-value
offering which will be displayed on the front of the team’s shirts from
the start of the 2014/15 English Premier League season. The first game
will see Crystal Palace take on Arsenal on the 16th August at The Emirates Stadium, London.
NETELLER will be the First Premier League sponsor within the online
payments space and will provide the brand the right synergy to achieve
NETELLER’S marketing and commercial objectives quickly and cost
effectively. Specifically, it will support customer and merchant
objectives delivering rapid multi-market brand awareness, big brand
credibility and driving sign up and conversion rates in NETELLER’s key
growth markets – including Asia; Africa and the Americas. Today, Optimal
Payments processes approximately $15 billion USD annually in more than
200 countries and territories with over 100 types of payment and
multi-currency options.
Joel Leonoff, President and CEO of Optimal Payments, said: “We are
delighted to be the official sponsor of Crystal Palace and recognise
similarities between our two organisations in terms of recent great
performance and growth ambitions for the future. The Premier League
attracts the highest global viewership in international sports, with an
estimated global audience of 4.4 billion. This sponsorship signifies an
opportunity to support one of the league’s most exciting teams while
promoting our innovative payment solutions worldwide.”
Crystal Palace Chairman Steve Parish said: “We are thrilled to have
NETELLER on board and really excited at the prospect of working with
them on the growth of its online payments business. As soon as we met
the team they felt like the right partner for us and it was important
for the vision of our Club to work with an exciting, multi-market
consumer brand. Both Crystal Palace and Optimal Payments have
experienced tremendous growth over the last few years and I feel
confident we can help each other to continue that path.”
The deal’s commercial potential is driven by the global passion for
the Premier League; including live coverage by 80 international
broadcasters televised action across 212 territories worldwide,
inspiring billions of pages of editorial and dominating social media
debate worldwide on a weekly basis between July and May every year.
Lorenzo Pellegrino, Executive Vice President – NETELLER said “The
chance to partner NETELLER with the global reach of the Premier League
is massively exciting in its own right, but what’s also important is the
ability to work with merchant partners already operating in the Premier
League space. This partnership gives NETELLER the platform to promote
our services on a whole new level; putting it alongside major global
brands like Barclays; Nike; Emirates; Samsung and General Motors.”
The partnership was negotiated by sports marketing agency, SportQuake
who will also assist in managing and delivering the global sponsorship
campaign. SportQuake are sport marketing experts who specialise in
helping consumer brands and rights owners to deliver commercial and
cultural value through sport. In 2014 SportQuake has already completed
over 100 football partnership deals including major transactions with
all 20 EPL clubs.
About Crystal Palace Football Club
Crystal Palace FC will again take their place in the Premier League
for the 2014/15 season. The club play at Selhurst Park Stadium and its
extremely loyal support are widely renowned for generating the best
atmosphere in the Barclays Premier League. Crystal Palace is the only
south London-based Premier League club and prides itself on being a true
community asset. Having a rich 109-year history, the club regularly
finds local youngsters to play in its first team, developing their
footballing skills through both its youth academy and one of the finest
community schemes in the country. The club’s manager, Tony Pulis, was
voted Premier League Manager of the Year by the League Managers
Association at the end of the 2013/14 season, while its fans were also
voted the best in the country.
The outstanding progress made both on and off the pitch has caught
the imagination of both the people who support the club and those
involved in the business of football, with the club now benefiting from
an army of followers around the world.
About Optimal Payments Plc
Optimal Payments is a global provider of online payment solutions,
trusted by businesses and consumers in over 200 countries and
territories to move and manage billions of dollars each year. Merchants
use the NETBANX® platform and services to simplify how they accept
credit and debit card, direct-from-bank, and alternative and local
payments; and the NETELLER® service to increase revenues and capture new
customers. Consumers use the multilingual and multicurrency NETELLER
and Net+® Card stored-value offering to make secure and convenient
payments. Optimal Payments Plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s
AIM, with a ticker symbol of OPAY. Subsidiary company Optimal Payments
Ltd is authorised and regulated as an e-money issuer by the UK’s
Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 900015).
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