Kuflink calls full time on partnership with Southampton FC
Kuflink’s involvement with Premier League football team Southampton has ended.
The peer-to-peer bridging lender was the football club’s P2P lending partner for the previous two seasons but will not be taking up the option of a third.
Fans weren’t allowed to attend Premier League football matches for much of last season and for the end of the 2019/2020 competition, meaning stadiums were empty.
Clubs are welcoming fans back now, subject to being fully vaccinated or passing Covid tests, but Kuflink chief Narinder Khattoare (pictured) told Peer2Peer Finance News that the partnership was risky with the risk of other variants still around.
He said the platform may revisit working with the football club in the future.
The lender is also in its last year as sponsor of the Ebbsfleet United stadium.
The Kent-based football club’s stadium is known as Kuflink Stadium.
Khattoare said there haven’t been any discussions about what will happen once the contract ends this season.
Kuflink isn’t the only P2P lender involved with football teams.
In December 2020, the P2P business lending platform became an associated partner of its local club, Reading FC.
Ablrate has LED adverts of its logo on two sides of the club’s ground, the Madejski Stadium. Reading FC hosts networking events for local small businesses, which the platform can now attend.
In July 2018, Basset & Gold, which was a P2P platform at the time but has since entered into administration, announced it would become West Ham’s official investment partner for the 2018/19 football season and sponsor the team’s shirt sleeves.