VBET partners with Zinchenko-owned organisation Passion UA

Image credit: Passion UA / VBET

Betting company VBET has announced a partnership with Passion UA, an esports organisation created by Arsenal footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko.

The bookmaker will become the general partner for Passion UA and the esports organisation’s jerseys will feature VBET branding.

Passion UA was created in September 2023 by Arsenal and Ukrainian national team footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko, hailed as one of the best Ukrainian players of today. Zinchenko created the organisation to compete in Counter-Strike, a game Zinchenko plays and enjoys watching. The team sits at number 41 of the HLTV ranking, just outside the top 30. Since its inception, Passion UA has also created rosters in Dota 2 and Apex Legends.

The partnership with VBET was made possible due to Zinchenko being an ambassador of the betting brand, more specifically its Responsible Gaming Ambassador. Both parties noted that this was a natural deal to make due to the fact that esports and betting sync well, and the close ties between the brands.

Interestingly, VBET has been relatively dormant in the esports space since 2021, when the company partnered with Swedish organisation Alliance.

Artemijs Rjabovs, CEO of Passion UA, commented: “We are happy to partner with such a big brand in the sports industry. We’ve known each other for a while, thanks to the successful and prosperous collaboration between VBET and Oleksandr Zinchenko, so it was just a matter of time before the partnership extended to Passion UA.”

Ivan Šimić
Ivan comes from Croatia, loves weird simulator games, and is terrible at playing anything else. Spent 5 years writing about tech and esports in Croatia, and is now doing it here.