Coral Ending Long-running Sponsorship Of Cheltenham Festival Handicap

Coral has ended its sponsorship at the Cheltenham Festival, mentioning wagering tax rises as the factor for bringing its support to an end.


The bookmaker, which becomes part of the Entain group, has actually sponsored the Coral Cup considering that its inception in 1993 however following the announcement of imminent increases to remote video gaming task, which is levied on online casino-style video games, and remote betting duty on sports, omitting British racing, it has reassessed its marketing spend.


Simon Clare, Entain's UK consumer PR director, discussed the decision to end the Coral Cup sponsorship was made with "some sadness", while underlining the for the firm to obtain "more value" from occasions in future.


He said: "Coral has been the longest-running sponsor at the Cheltenham Festival given that 1974, but the large size of the government's current tax increase on wagering operators implies we are having to take very challenging choices as we seek to alleviate some of the substantial impact, none harder or regrettable then bringing our sponsorship at Cheltenham to an end.


"The Jockey Club are strong, enduring partners of Entain, and although we are stepping far from this sponsorship, we will continue to work passionately and collaboratively with their racecourse groups on the huge sponsorships we have with them under our Ladbrokes and Coral brand names.


"Horse racing stays really crucial to Entain, and Coral and Ladbrokes have some of the greatest and most long-lasting sponsorships in the calendar, consisting of the Ladbrokes King George, which had among its best ever renewals a few weeks back, and the Coral-Eclipse where in 2015 we commemorated 50 years of sponsorship. The Cheltenham Festival is likewise a huge 4 days for our organization and our clients, and we will be promoting and celebrating it as much as ever in our stores and online and throughout our marketing channels.


Langer Dan (far best) winning the 2024 Coral Cup (David Davies/Jockey Club)


"However, the significant modification in the taxation landscape for betting operators suggests we require to drive much more value out of the occasions we sponsor, and review with even greater analysis where we invest our marketing invest, which has actually led to the end of the Coral Cup sponsorship."