Three-year deal

Australian crypto casino company Stake has struck a three-year AU$140m ($100m) title sponsorship deal with the Formula One team Alfa Romeo, described by the latter as “record-breaking.”

According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, Stake and Alfa Romeo will debut their new sponsorship and freshly-branded car at the Melbourne Grand Prix in March. The F1 team has already gone live with a Twitter page acknowledging the partnership:

Sauber Motorsport AG, the Swiss F1 works team for Alfa Romeo, announced the multi-year partnership with Stake via a press release on Friday. Sauber’s current lead sponsors, Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer Orlen, will make way for Stake. Anonymous sources close to the transaction divulged the $100m price tag and three-year tenure.

insiders expect Audi will replace Alfa Romeo

According to F1 website GP Blog, insiders expect Audi will replace Alfa Romeo when the latter’s contract with Sauber ends late 2023. If the German car manufacturer signs with Sauber, the Aussie cryptocurrency casino brand will still have title rights to sponsor the team, albeit under a new name.

High-octane engagement

Stake’s billionaire owners Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani are no strangers to headline-grabbing news, from the former splurging $80m on a Melbourne mansion to both getting sued for $400m by an ex-associate. As a brand, Stake often makes the news for its high-profile marketing tactics, such as paying out early on Arsenal winning the English Premier League and teaming up with Twitch streamers.

Tehrani highlighted the importance of the Alfa Romeo deal by penning a statement himself in the Sauber press release, describing his firm as “thrilled” to join an F1 team that:

shares with us the same ambitions of growth and success.”

Tehrani added that the tie-up will grow Stake’s fan engagement in the digital space via brand activations and integration. He also said his brand would enhance Grand Prix race weekends by “creating unique experiences” for Alfa Romeo fans.

Stake suits Sauber

Meanwhile, Sauber Group managing director and team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi deemed the agreement “the start of a new era” for the F1 works team, affirming that Stake fitted its fresh vision.

The exec revealed Stake’s appeal to Sauber, saying the crypto brand followed other big spending firms into F1 because of the increase in the sport’s popularity in recent years, and that Stake was:

representative of the massive exposure our sport can offer.”

Alunni Bravi ended by expressing Sauber’s excitement at joining Stake’s portfolio of sports and entertainment brands.