Olympique Lyonnais has named Winamax as a major partner under a three-season agreement beginning with the 2026/27 campaign.
The online poker and sports betting operator’s red “W” branding will appear on the upper back of the club’s shirts during Ligue 1 matches. Winamax will also receive exposure through LED advertising boards at Groupama Stadium.
The partnership includes prediction contests shown on the stadium’s screens and announced over its public-address system.
Selected supporters will be offered behind-the-scenes access through player experience events, while the parties also plan to hold poker tournaments for fans.
The agreement places Winamax alongside XTB among Olympique Lyonnais’ major commercial partners. The French club separately appointed the investment platform under an agreement running until 2029.
Winamax already has an established sponsorship presence in French football. Its portfolio for the 2025/26 season covered Lens, Stade Rennais, Le Havre and Strasbourg. It previously sponsored Lyon’s regional rival Saint-Étienne during the first half of the 2010s.
The Lyon agreement comes during heightened regulatory attention on gambling promotion in France. The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) said operators planned to spend €785m ($915.6m) on promotional activity during 2026, representing a 25% year-on-year increase.
Marketing expenditure was expected to reach €319m, while planned sports sponsorship spending rose by 14%.
The regulator approved operators’ promotional strategies subject to conditions, including requirements that declared budgets should not be exceeded. It identified the 2026 World Cup and greater exposure among vulnerable audiences as areas requiring additional supervision.
In February, the ANJ called for moderation when operators activated sports partnerships. It also renewed its proposal for tighter controls on sponsorship at major sporting events.
France permits licensed online sports betting and poker, although online casino games remain prohibited. The ANJ’s register lists Winamax as authorised to provide sports betting, horseracing betting and poker.
Winamax’s advertising has faced regulatory intervention before. In 2022, the ANJ ordered the withdrawal of a campaign that it found associated betting with social advancement.
Winamax’s new agreement follows the resolution of a dispute with another football partner. In May, the operator agreed to pay just under €2m to FC Stuttgart after the parties settled competing claims concerning the early termination of their shirt sponsorship arrangement.
Winamax strengthened its poker activity in April through an expanded World Series of Poker partnership covering content distribution and player qualification opportunities
