AC Milan and SureWin announce partnership in Asia
Italian football club AC Milan has partnered with online gaming platform SureWin, which will serve as the club’s official regional online casino in Asia.
The collaboration will introduce fan initiatives and digital content targeting the club’s Asian fanbase.
Founded by William Anderson, SureWin obtained a license from the Philippine regulator PAGCOR in 2017 and entered the Asian market in 2023.
Anderson said, “To be part of AC Milan’s global story is an honour for SureWin. AC Milan’s values of excellence and ambition resonate deeply with our own, and together we look forward to building meaningful connections with Rossoneri fans across Asia.
“This partnership is not only a milestone for our company but also a celebration of our shared vision to inspire and engage communities through innovation, entertainment, and responsibility.”
The partnership builds on the success of AC Milan’s 2025 pre-season tour in Singapore and Hong Kong, where the men’s first team connected with supporters in Asia.
AC Milan Chief Commercial Officer Maikel Oettle said, “We are delighted to welcome SureWin into the Rossoneri family. This partnership marks an important chapter in our journey to deepen the connection with our fans in Asia, whom we had the pleasure to meet during our last Pre-Season Tour. Partnering with SureWin allows us to strengthen this bond and create memorable experiences that celebrate the unifying power of football.”
The partnership comes as the Philippines is on track to become Asia’s second-largest gaming hub.
Charlotte Capewell brings her passion for storytelling and expertise in writing, researching, and the gambling industry to every article she writes. Her specialties include the US gambling industry, regulator legislation, igaming, and more.
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The Backstory
Why a Serie A club is doubling down on Asia now
AC Milan’s move to name SureWin its official regional online casino in Asia aligns with a broader shift in how teams monetize global fan bases and how operators court legitimacy in fast-growing markets. The tie-up leans on Milan’s recent preseason tour through Singapore and Hong Kong and on SureWin’s regulatory footing in the Philippines, where the operator holds a PAGCOR license. The club is trading on brand equity and direct access to supporters; the operator gets a mainstream platform in a region where digital wagering is scaling fast. The stakes are clear: capture engagement and deposits across mobile-first markets while regulators from Manila to Singapore set tighter guardrails and demand stricter compliance.
The deal also reflects the rise of regional, not just global, partnerships. Rather than a single worldwide sponsor, teams increasingly slice rights by territory and vertical to maximize revenue and match regulatory realities. For operators, regional rights reduce risk and tailor messaging to local rules and fan habits. For the club, the calculus is retention and conversion in time zones where live match windows and social content already drive high usage. The partnership comes as more teams test experiential campaigns, streaming integrations and data-led offers to turn casual followers into paying users.
Philippines emerges as a magnet for igaming investment
SureWin’s roots in the Philippines position the partnership at the intersection of club marketing and a shifting regional regulatory map. Industry executives say the Philippines is on track to become Asia’s second-largest gaming hub thanks to tourism, investor appetite and a surge in online play. According to remarks at a recent industry expo, regulatory changes by PAGCOR have lowered fees, tightened anti-money-laundering oversight and pushed more operators into the formal system, helping online gaming top half of sector revenue so far this year. Removal from the Financial Action Task Force gray list has also eased investor concerns.
That policy backdrop matters for club-operator deals. Asia’s growth is uneven, with markets like Macau and Singapore mature and tightly controlled, while the Philippines pulls in new capital and talent. A licensed operator with on-the-ground compliance and payments capabilities is better placed to activate sponsorship assets, from match-week campaigns to VIP hospitality. If growth holds, expect more European clubs to follow Milan’s path: partner with a regional brand that already navigates licensing, payments and KYC, then layer on content and activations built for local fans.
Compliance turns from cost center to competitive edge
As clubs and operators link arms, the regulatory perimeter is closing, and compliance tooling is becoming a differentiator. A case in point: GeoLocs and Argos announced a strategic partnership to combine geolocation and identity verification into a single compliance stack for operators across regulated markets. The alliance packages eKYC, anti-money-laundering screening and location validation while pledging privacy protections aligned with GDPR and local rules. It targets jurisdictions in North America and Latin America, but the logic travels to Asia, where regulators increasingly expect seamless, real-time controls that do not degrade user experience.
For sponsorships like Milan–SureWin, the operational question is how to convert traffic safely and quickly across jurisdictions with different age checks, data rules and wagering limits. Unified verification lowers friction at sign-up, reduces fraud and speeds regulatory approvals for new product features. It also helps partners withstand scrutiny when political cycles turn or when enforcement spikes. In a market where advertising codes and responsible gambling obligations shift often, having auditable, modular compliance tooling can determine whether a campaign launches on time and scales.
Teams test naming rights and fan offers tied to betting
The European club deal echoes North American experiments where teams deepen ties with betting brands beyond static logos. In Canada, the Edmonton Elks struck a multi-year pact that makes Play Alberta the official betting partner and rebrands the field for home games as Play Alberta Field at Commonwealth Stadium. The arrangement folds in fan promotions, ticket giveaways and merchandise offers, signaling how teams see wagering as an engine for engagement and incremental revenue, not just sponsorship line items.
For Milan, Asia-specific activations may follow a similar playbook: localized contests, watch-party integrations and exclusive content that funnels users into registered accounts. The difference is regulatory complexity across borders and the need to calibrate messaging to cultural expectations. Still, the same underlying economics apply. Teams monetize attention; operators acquire users at lower cost than pure media buys; and both sides share data to refine offers. The winners will be those that convert brand affinity into repeat usage without crossing responsible marketing lines.
Data and streaming power the next leg of acquisition
Behind the front-end sponsorships sits a race to control live data, streaming rights and the plumbing that powers in-play betting. Sportsbooks and suppliers are tightening alliances to unlock product depth and faster markets. In Latin America, First and Genius Sports extended their data and streaming partnership, with a focus on Brazil and neighboring leagues. The deal expands distribution of live feeds tied to top-flight competitions across the region and positions First as Genius’s official betting partner while Genius steers operators to First’s managed sportsbook stack.
That model—bundling premium data, streaming and a turnkey book—has resonance in Asia. As leagues and tournaments compete for screen time, reliable low-latency data becomes table stakes for same-game parlays and micro-bets that drive margin. Operators aligned with data leaders can launch markets faster and price risk more precisely, while teams see richer integrations in broadcasts and apps. A Milan partnership is most potent when live product is strong, localized and available on the devices fans already use.
Marketing chases marquee events to amplify brand resets
Sponsorship dollars are also clustering around tentpole events where global audiences are captive and social chatter spikes. Lottery.com used the Indianapolis 500 to relaunch its brands, splitting car livery between its core product and Sports.com in a dual-driver sponsorship. The bet was not just on race-day impressions but on a season-long program for one driver and the option to extend with the other. The approach underscores how rights holders and operators view marquee sports as accelerants for brand repositioning and customer acquisition.
For Milan and SureWin, the analog could be regional football showcases, preseason tours and digital match hubs that anchor campaigns. Tying acquisition pushes to moments of peak attention helps manage cost per acquisition and deliver measurable lifts across app installs and first-time deposits. It also gives regulators a clear window into how promotions are structured, which can build trust if responsible gambling safeguards are prominent.
The through line across these developments is convergence. Clubs are commercializing reach, operators are professionalizing compliance and data, and regulators are shaping the pace and shape of growth. Milan’s Asia partnership lands at a moment when the Philippines is scaling, Latin America is codifying, and North America is tightening controls—each trend pushing sponsors to be more local, more compliant and more integrated. The next test is execution: whether fan-first activations, robust safeguards and premium live product can turn headline deals into durable, regulated revenue.
