Huddersfield Town have been caught up in an off-field row over sponsors logos.
Sports agency UED Sports, the shirt sponsor for Spanish football club Real Betis, claims its logo is “identical” to the branding used by Town’s shirt sponsor OPE Sports .
Both designs feature their company names in large letters with the word “Sports” below – both In a similar typeface – and the same four Chinese characters beneath that.
In a letter to OPE posted on Twitter, UED wrote: “You are certainly aware of the Trade Mark, since your figurative sign OPE Sports is without any doubt substantially identical to the Trade Mark.”
UED also wrote complaining to the Premier League, but was told in a letter by the league: “Without commenting on the contents of the letter, the matters complained of are not relevant to us and are instead issues that your client should direct to Huddersfield Town AFC and/or its shirt sponsor.”
A spokesman for Town said the club had no comment to make.
Town unveiled OPE Sports as its new kit sponsor for the 2017/18 season back in June. OPE Sports is part of Opebet, a global betting brand founded in 2007. Its website hosts about 30,000 live betting events each month and covers football around the world.
The logo appears on both the home and away shirts as well as the pitch side LED boards and other branding at the John Smith’s Stadium.
The sponsorship deal – the largest of its kind for the club – was brokered by SportQuake, an international sport marketing agency.
The club said the deal would allow it to “engage with a wider global audience and grow an international fan base while giving exposure in the most watched league in the world”.
