Coral Ending Long-running Sponsorship Of Cheltenham Festival Handicap

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


The bookie, which becomes part of the Entain group, has the Coral Cup considering that its beginning in 1993 but following the announcement of impending boosts to remote gaming duty, which is levied on online casino-style games, and remote wagering duty on sports, leaving out British racing, it has actually reassessed its marketing invest.


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


He said: "Coral has been the longest-running sponsor at the Cheltenham Festival because 1974, but the large size of the federal government's recent tax increase on betting operators means we are needing to take very challenging decisions as we seek to reduce a few of the substantial impact, 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 brand names.


"Horse racing stays very crucial to Entain, and Coral and Ladbrokes have some of the most significant and most enduring sponsorships in the calendar, consisting of the Ladbrokes King George, which had among its finest ever renewals a couple of weeks ago, and the Coral-Eclipse where in 2015 we celebrated 50 years of sponsorship. The Cheltenham Festival is likewise an enormous 4 days for our organization and our consumers, and we will be promoting and commemorating it as much as ever in our stores and online and across our marketing channels.


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


"However, the significant change in the tax landscape for wagering operators suggests we require to drive a lot more worth out of the occasions we sponsor, and review with even higher examination where we invest our marketing spend, which has actually resulted in the end of the Coral Cup sponsorship."