SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Ladbrokes is set to lose its sponsorship of the St. Leger Festival (7-10 September, Doncaster Racecourse).
Being at loggerheads with the British Horseracing Association (BHA) regarding not joining its Authorised Betting Partner scheme (ABP), the FTSE-listed bookmaker will lose its 12-year sponsorship of world racing’s oldest classic.
Shunning the controversial ABP Scheme, which has split support from the UK betting industry Ladbrokes will not be permitted to sponsor any UK Racing syndicated event.
The bookmaker is reported to have pleaded its case for continued sponsorship of the St. Leger Festival, on the grounds that it had built a solid legacy with the event which it had helped restore back its lustre.
Sticking by its ABP policy, the BHA governance has refused Ladbrokes further sponsorship of the festival past its 2016 edition.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Ladbrokes’ Media Relations Director David Williams commented on his firm’s frustrations:
“We love the Leger and when we took it over nobody wanted it. It was lurching from one sponsor to another and the race was on its knees.
“Now we’ve been kicked in the teeth. If racing does not want our money, we will look elsewhere. We are not a charity.”
