Coral Ending Long-running Sponsorship Of Cheltenham Festival Handicap

Coral has ended its sponsorship at the Cheltenham Festival, mentioning betting as the reason for bringing its backing to an end.


The bookmaker, which becomes part of the Entain group, has sponsored the Coral Cup since its beginning in 1993 but following the statement of imminent boosts to remote video gaming responsibility, which is levied on online casino-style video games, and remote wagering duty on sports, leaving out British racing, it has actually reassessed its marketing spend.


Simon Clare, Entain's UK customer PR director, discussed the decision to end the Coral Cup sponsorship was made with "some unhappiness", while underlining the requirement for the company to obtain "more worth" from occasions in future.


He said: "Coral has been the longest-running sponsor at the Cheltenham Festival since 1974, but the large size of the government's recent tax increase on wagering operators implies we are needing to take very hard decisions as we aim to mitigate some of the big effect, none harder or regrettable then bringing our sponsorship at Cheltenham to an end.


"The Jockey Club are strong, long-standing partners of Entain, and although we are stepping away from this sponsorship, we will continue to work passionately and collaboratively with their racecourse teams on the big sponsorships we have with them under our Ladbrokes and Coral brands.


"Horse racing stays very crucial to Entain, and Coral and Ladbrokes have some of the biggest and most enduring sponsorships in the calendar, consisting of the Ladbrokes King George, which had one of its best ever renewals a few weeks back, and the Coral-Eclipse where in 2015 we celebrated 50 years of sponsorship. The Cheltenham Festival is likewise a massive four days for our service and our customers, and we will be promoting and celebrating it as much as ever in our stores and online and across our marketing channels.


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


"However, the significant change in the tax landscape for wagering operators means we require to drive a lot more value out of the occasions we sponsor, and evaluation with even higher scrutiny where we invest our marketing spend, which has resulted in completion of the Coral Cup sponsorship."