Sport

The Cheltenham Festival 2021 has attracted record viewership on only its first day, with both the average and peak audience up significantly on the previous year. ITV Racing drew in an average of 1.1 million viewers, with a total of 1.5 million tuning in to watch the Champions Hurdle, won by Rachel Blackmore, riding the hugely anticipated Irish racehorse Honeysuckle. …

Chairman of the English Football League (EFL), Rick Parry, has spoken out against a ban on sports betting sponsorship arrangements, citing financial concerns for lower league teams. Speaking to the Financial Times (FT), Parry remarked that a betting sponsorship ban would be ‘catastrophic’ for smaller football clubs ‘in the wake of the pandemic’. Parry’s comments come two months after it …

MPs from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Related Harm (GRH APPG) have directed further criticism at the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) regarding the collapse of betting exchange Football Index. Writing a letter to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, the group of legislators described the demise of the operator and the losses its customers suffered as a ‘scandal,’ and have cited …

Betting brands sponsoring this year’s Cheltenham Festival are set to benefit from increased exposure, with the event forecast to pull in its biggest viewing audience in 10 years due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to figures compiled by Nielsen Sports. The sports measurement and analytics firm also estimated that over £500 million is expected to be wagered on races during …

German sports betting operator Tipico has further strengthened its position in the country’s gambling and sports sponsorship sectors via a renewal of its agreement with FC Bayern Munich. The extended partnership will allow Tipico to continue to take advantage of brand exposure and advertising opportunities at the Bundesliga club’s 75,000-seater Allianz Arena stadium, which regularly appears in widely-watched domestic and …

Horse racing will not feature in the government’s schedule of 12 sporting events which will see the large scale return of spectators to venues. Crowds are due to return to horse racing on 17 May, during the third stage of the government’s planned schedule, which will begin on 15 May with the FA Cup final the debut event. Although the …

Europol has closed down one of the ‘world’s largest’ sport streaming piracy operations with the assistance of the top flight Premier League and Spain’s La Liga, along with the country’s police authorities. More than 100 million users downloaded the application – called Mobdro – which was connected to websites and platforms in Spain and Portugal with links to servers in …

Payments platform Skrill has followed its agreement with esports betting operator Luckbox with a partnership with Leeds United FC of the Premier League. As a result of the agreement, supporters of the West Yorkshire club will be able to utilise Skrill to make purchases on the team’s official website, such as making ticket payments and buying merchandise. The deal will …

Sky Bet has announced the production of a new documentary centred around the online betting operator’s brand ambassador Daryl Jacob is in the pipeline. The film, titled ‘Daryl Jacob: Being a Jockey’, which will be released ahead of the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, ‘aims to capture the highs and lows of life as a professional jockey’ and in particular, National Hunt …