There’s a new corporate hookup between poker and auto racing, as Entain, the parent company of PartyPoker and PartyCasino, has announced a deal with longtime Formula 1 team McLaren Racing. As part of the multi-year partnership, PartyPoker and PartyCasino branding will appear on McLaren cars through the next several seasons.
The deal goes into effect immediately, with Party’s iconic diamond branding slated to be rolled out at the famed Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, May 21, on the cars of McLaren’s Formula 1 drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris. Party branding will also appear on the helmet of Ricciardo, an avid poker player who is among several F1 drivers who are fans of the game.
Ricciardo will be featured in a special tourney organized by Party, with behind-the-scenes video available at the site. According to a PartyPoker Blog update, the new brand synergy will extend to Party’s players as well. New McLaren-themed content and “access all areas” games are coming soon on both Party sites, and Party’s players will have the chance to win McLaren-themed experiences as well.
New and exclusive competitions on Party will award special access to Grand Prix events and McLaren’s own state-of-the-art Technology Centre, while another upcoming contest will allow winners the opportunity to become “Inside Track” reporters covering Team McLaren racers and events.
Cutting-edge technologies give Party, McLaren a uniting theme
Party’s announcement regarding the new branding deal focused on each company’s status as a tech leader in their respective industries, while adding that both companies “love entertaining” as well.
“We are immensely proud to be partnering with McLaren Racing, a team who is synonymous with creating thrilling entertainment by constantly innovating and staying at the cutting-edge of technology,” said Entain CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen. “We are truly excited about the opportunities we have to create new content for our PartyCasino and PartyPoker customers as well as bringing these great brands to new audiences.”
McLaren Racing’s CEO, Zak Brown, focused on the deal’s entertainment aspect. “We look forward to starting our partnership with Entain from this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix and the activity we have planned together in creating moments of excitement for fans and customers,” Brown stated.
McLaren hookup the latest deal between auto racing and poker
The branding deal between the Party brands and McLaren is one of the most prominent deals between a racing company and a poker site, though it’s far from the first. In 2006, major PartyPoker rival, PokerStars, announced a sponsorship deal with Aston Martin Racing that included the awarding of an Aston Martin race car later that same year.
Poker-racing deals have occurred stateside as well. One of the most prominent of those partnerships rolled out in 2019 when Global Poker signed a deal with NASCAR’s Chip Ganassi Racing to place its brand name on Kurt Busch’s #1 Chevrolet race car.
