Betfred seals second major sponsorship deal in a week

UK-based bookmaker Betfred has announced a three-year deal with the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) to become title sponsor of the Scottish League Cup.

The news comes just days after the announcement that the company had extended its sponsorship of snooker's World Championship until 2019. It will be known as the Betfred World Championship until 2019.

According to the SPFL website, Betfred's three-year deal will see it become the exclusive title sponsor of the Scottish League Cup, which will be known as The Betfred Cup from this July.

Betfred, established in 1967 by brothers Fred and Peter Done in Salford, nowadays operates some 1,400 betting shops and boasts a position as the world’s biggest independent bookmaker.

Last week's Betfred World Snooker Championship from the The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield was watched by an amazing 210 million viewers on broadcaster CCTV5 in China, with Ding Junhui the first player from Asia to reach the final of the sport's biggest tournament.

Ding eventually lost 18-14 in the pulsating final to Mark Selby, who lifted the trophy for the second time.

Leicester-based Selby is a big Foxes fan and his triumph came five minutes after his own football heroes were confirmed as unlikely Premier League champions, with second-placed Spurs only drawing against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

That only added to the headline-grabbing drama at the end of seventeen days of intense competition which attracted a total global TV audience of more than 300 million.

Betfred boss Fred Done, who presented the trophy to Selby, said: "We are proud to continue our sponsorship. It is an iconic much-loved event high on the sporting calendar. We were eager to extend our sponsorship, but the viewing figures throughout the world, and particularly in China, certainly got it over the line".