Bet365 Ends Horseracing Sponsorships Due to UK Tax Headwinds

Bet365 has become the next gambling company to end some of its horseracing sponsorship due to Great Britain’s new gambling tax regime. The company called the move “difficult,” but industry critics scrutinized the decision.

Bet365 Ends Its Ties with Several Races

Not too long after Entain withdrew its long-standing sponsorship of The Coral Cup, a part of the Cheltenham Festival, competitor bet365 has ended some of its own racing agreements. These include the withdrawal of the operator’s backing of the Old Newton Cup and Lancashire Oaks at Haydock and the end of the operator’s backing for the Craven Meeting at Newmarket and other July Festival races.

While bet365 will serve the remainder of its term as the titular backer of the Craven Meeting, it has decided against renewing the deal, effectively ending a partnership that ran for almost a decade.

At the same time, bet365’s decision to end its Haydock arrangements will end a major tie-up that existed for more than twenty years and will ultimately deprive the Old Newton Cup and Lancashire Oaks of their main backer.

The Decision Was Difficult, Bet365 Says

A bet365 spokesperson told The Racing Post that ending these deals has been a very difficult decision. However, the company suggested that these changes were necessary due to the gaming tax increases in the UK.

For context, Great Britain opted to drastically increase its gaming taxes, despite warnings that such a move would jeopardize the existing gaming ecosystem. While the racing sector managed to secure an exemption, the Betting & Gaming Council previously slammed this exemption as “purely cosmetic” since the broader tax hikes would still hurt the very industry that horseracing relies on. Still, some critics raised eyebrows at the decision to end the partnerships due to the exemption.

In any case, Bet365 is not the first company to discontinue a sponsorship over either, since Entain’s Coral brand previously withdrew its backing of The Coral Cup, a part of the Cheltenham Festival. BetMGM eventually stepped in as the race’s new sponsor, causing it to be renamed to the BetMGM Cup.