Coral ending long-running sponsorship of Cheltenham Festival handicap

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

The bookmaker, which is part of the Entain group, has sponsored the Coral Cup since its inception in 1993 but following the announcement of imminent increases to remote gaming duty, which is levied on online casino-style games, and remote betting duty on sports, excluding British racing, it has reassessed its marketing spend.

Simon Clare, Entain’s UK consumer PR director, explained the decision to end the Coral Cup sponsorship was made with “some sadness”, while underlining the need for the firm to derive “more value” from events in future.

He said: “Coral has been the longest-running sponsor at the Cheltenham Festival since 1974, but the sheer size of the government’s recent tax increase on betting operators means we are having to take very difficult decisions as we look to mitigate some of the huge impact, none more difficult 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 remains very important to Entain, and Coral and Ladbrokes have some of the biggest and most enduring sponsorships in the calendar, including the Ladbrokes King George, which had one of its best ever renewals a few weeks ago, and the Coral-Eclipse where last year we celebrated 50 years of sponsorship. The Cheltenham Festival is also a massive four days for our business and our customers, and we will be promoting and celebrating it as much as ever in our shops and online and across our marketing channels.

“However, the significant change in the taxation landscape for betting operators means we need to drive even more value out of the events we sponsor, and review with even greater scrutiny where we invest our marketing spend, which has resulted in the end of the Coral Cup sponsorship.”