Bas Tietema successfully defends against another lawsuit by his former sponsor Bingoal

Bingoal has once again suffered a courtroom defeat against cyclist and influencer Bas Tietema and Tour de Tietema. The online casino claimed €71,000 from Tour de Tietema for failure to comply with the contract. The judge ruled that Tietema legally terminated the contract because he could no longer fulfill the agreement due to the ban on role models.

As part of the agreement, Tietema would create exclusive video content about himself and his cycling team Tour de Tietema, with Belgian bookmaker Bingoal acting as main sponsor. This collaboration was unilaterally terminated on October 5, 2022 because Tietema was no longer able to implement it. A few months earlier, on June 30, 2022, the ban on role models was introduced, which also includes influencers and athletes.

Bingoal's parent company argues that Dutch gambling legislation does not apply to the sponsorship deal, because the gambling company focuses on the Belgian market. The judge did not agree with that argument, since the advertising, via the Dutch YouTube channel of Tour de Tietema, is indeed aimed at the Netherlands. The reach of the channel would be 53% in the Netherlands, compared to only 26% in Belgium, according to the ruling.

Last year, Bingoal and Tietema also faced each other in court. Due to breach of contract, the Belgian gambling operator then demanded an amount of €2 million. According to Bingoal, the vlogging cyclist allegedly acted unlawfully when Tour de Tietema entered into a sponsorship contract with Unibet. Even then the judge ruled in favor of Tietema. The contract was no longer legally valid due to the ban on role models.