Betsson signs record HJK Helsinki sponsorship running to 2032

Betsson announced a five-and-a-half-year sponsorship agreement with HJK Helsinki, one of Finland's main football clubs. The partnership will begin on 1 July 2027 and run until 31 December 2032, the company announced. According to the club, it is the most important commercial agreement in the history of Finnish football. The financial value of the agreement was not made public.

The partnership covers both the HJK men's first team and the women's first team. HJK said the agreement is a first for Finnish football both in its financial size and in its duration. Jussi Raita, chief executive of the HJK women's team, said the length and financial size of the agreement could offer new investment opportunities for both first teams and strengthen their competitiveness in national and European competitions.

Betsson described the agreement as a strategic investment ahead of the opening of the Finnish online gambling market to private operators, expected in July 2027. Implementation of the agreement is conditional on Betsson obtaining the licence required to operate in the new regulated market. The reform will end Veikkaus's monopoly in the liberalised segments, allowing licensed operators to offer betting and online casino games and to carry out marketing and sponsorship within the restrictions set by the legislation.

Aki Riihilahti, chief executive of HJK Helsinki, said the club wanted to thank Betsson for the agreement and that a collaboration of this scale demonstrated HJK's position in Finnish sport. He said the club had chosen an international operator such as Betsson after careful evaluation to build the club's future together, and that an agreement of this size, both economically and operationally, and of long duration would allow the club to invest more in reaching its sporting objectives.

Jussi Metsiö, Betsson's country manager in Finland, said the company was extremely proud and enthusiastic to bring what he called the emblematic club of Finnish football into its international football family, where it would sit alongside the other teams the company works with. He said HJK's history, its ambitions and the passion of its fans made the partnership especially significant for Betsson, which wants to help the club achieve its next major successes and will contribute its know-how from international football collaborations. The five-and-a-half-year term, he added, reflects how strongly Betsson believes in HJK and in the future of Finnish football.

Licence applications for new operators have been open since March 2026 and, according to data published by the authorities at the end of September, 75 companies had already applied. HJK is among the first Finnish football clubs to announce an agreement with an international betting operator ahead of liberalisation.