From divorced royalty to faded footballers - there is a casino for you

Celebrity endorsement is practically as old as the invention of marketing and advertising itself and it will not shock anyone that the custom of fronting a brand with a household name has been widely embraced by the online casino industry. You probably won’t be very surprised by some of the names you’ll find backing hard-core gaming brands out there. Is it the most up-to-date industry when it comes to celebrity endorsement? Probably not, but we’ll leave that up to you to decide when you have some of our quirky facts at hand.

 

Royal ambassadors

Shall we start with the controversial “ambassador” at the centre of the recent royal Norwegian scandal? As the newly divorced author/entertainer, Ari Behn recently took on the ambassador's role with Norwegian-focussed online casino provider Folkeautomaten.

 

Now divorced after 14 years with 3 children, the Norwegian Royal Family suffered the blow as the divorce became fact and watched in horror as Ari Behn became the online casino’s spokesperson for a charitable cause based on rewarding unrecognized everyday heroes across the land. The charitable cause loophole in Norwegian gaming that Folkeautomaten have taken advantage off has not gone unnoticed by the Norwegian gaming monopoly, Norsk Tipping, who have been left fuming at this turn of events.

 

Princess Martha Louise, on the other hand, has been the talk of Norway ever since it was revealed by Danish publication, Ekstra Bladet, that the princess has offered courses in contacting the dead. One wonders if Folkeautomaten chose the right divorcee to front their casino?

 

Babes turning heads in the online casino world

We continue with the brand which got the cream, BGO, when they landed none other than socialite and heiress Paris Hilton to front their Bingo Site. Who wouldn’t want to play bingo with a refreshingly clad Paris? The fun doesn’t stop with the sight of Paris sexily clad in a skimpy leotard! You even have Mini-Me to add to the fun factor at BGO. The character made famous in the Mike Meyer’s “Spy who shagged me” movie, little Verne Troyer is present to help whip up a bingo frenzy in true Gangnam style.

 

With all respect to Hilton, slightly hotter is the Pin-Up and model, Triana Iglesias, representing VegasCasino in a most distracting way. We are talking about hotness to break the Richter scale here. Scandinavian feminists have had a field day with this celeb endorsement since day one.

 

Sportstars extending their fading careers

There are tons of rusty sports icons lurking around in the online gaming scene as well. MobileBet bagged the MFX legend, Andre Villa, to promote their manly-man image. Apparently, this makes every man feel like he too, is out there risking his life and limbs on a motorbike. The unfortunate Andre did break both his legs in a competition in 2008.

 

Good old striker, John Carew, with a career playing for Valencia, Lyon, Roma, Aston Villa and finally West Ham now welcomes you to ComeOn casino. The fact he was known more for his mouth than his goals seems to have been appreciated by someone at last. And Matt Le Tissier, Southampton’s all time best player, is still in Freebets.com’s pocket to long-term fans great glee.

 

Honorable mentions as brand ambassadors also go out to Liverpool and England legend, Michael Owen who represents BetVictor. Also worth a mention are Real Madrid colossus Cristiano Ronaldo, who together with tennis-star, Rafa Nadal, formed part of a Pokerstars celeb team until very recently.

 

Poker is a favorite post-retirement hobby for many pro-sportsmen and women. Given the competitive and tongue-in-cheek nature of poker we can understand why this appeals to retired sportsmen.

 

If gaming is going to grow into an industry ready to take on the bigger stars remains to be seen. It is hardly likely that Beyoncé or Tiger Woods will be endorsing video slots anytime soon. There is still some stigma attached to the online gambling industry, which will keep some of the more eligible and “salonfähig” stars away for now. In the meantime, we will keep a wry lookout on which celebs are next to endorse an online casino brand.

Mathieu Blake


Mathieu Blake - Internet Entrepreneur, loves technology, sports, the Montreal Canadiens, Poker, Poker chips, current events and travel. You will often find him Writing about different topics that interest him on websites and blogs. To submit an article, contact the website directly.