The Most Significant Sponsors in Horse Racing
Horse racing is one of the oldest and most celebrated sports on the planet but in recent years it has found its future becoming increasingly unclear. Once upon a time the news of a top meet would have drawn in crowds from far and wide to cheer on their favourite jockeys and marvel at the prowess of the horses on display.
In recent years however it appears a large part of the mystique surrounding horse racing has been lost and, were it not for the thriving betting market that goes alongside it, perhaps we would be looking at horse racing as a thing of the past.
In this article we take a look at the major sponsorship sectors that are funding horse racing and keeping it relevant, read on to find out what they are.
1. The Horse Racing Betting Industry
In the United Kingdom alone, £3 billion was wagered on horse racing betting last year with a staggering £650 million being wagered over the three-days of the Grand National alone. It is no wonder then that the betting industry is the largest single contributor to horse racing sponsorships.
Tune in to any meet and you will see a whole host of bookmakers and sportsbooks names either sponsoring the event itself or the individual riders and their horses. Of the 10 most lucrative sponsorship deals in horse racing last year, 7 were from online sports betting companies.
Despite this recent data has pointed towards a worrying trend for gambling companies, showing that year on year since 2009 the amount wagered on horse racing has been on the decline. In 2009 just under £6 billion in bets were wagered a number which fell to £5 billion in 2013 and £4 billion in 2018.
If this downward trend is to continue in the coming years, betting companies will be seriously revaluating the financial viability of signing eye-wateringly high sponsorship deals.
2. The Automobile Industry
Seeing advertising for cars might seem a little untoward when you are cheering on your favourite jockey riding a horse to glory but everyone needs to get from A to B. Behind sportsbooks, the automobile industry is the second largest sponsor of horse racing here in the UK.
Cazoo, the online car rental company are the biggest players signing a £1.5 million deal with Arena Racing Company in April 2021. In total it is estimated that Cazoo’s outlay on horse racing sponsorship deals is just shy of £10 million.
AutoTrader, Cinch and a whole host of other car and car comparison companies also have smaller sponsorship arrangements within the horse racing industry.
3. The Wine Industry
Walk into any betting shop in the country and look around and you will do well to spot a baron or a Lord wearing tweed and cheering on their favourite jockey. Yet despite that the upper classes still remain one of the key target demographics for horse racing sponsors.
Which is why there are a number of lucrative sponsorships involving luxury wine brands like Maison Mumm and Penfolds. The former is a champagne house in Reims responsible for one of the most well-known champagnes on the planet.
The latter is a luxury wine brand from Australia, established in 1844 responsible for some of the most complex and delicate wines to come out of the southern hemisphere.
These are just two examples of the luxury wine sponsorship deals in the horse racing industry which are a far cry from the smoke filled betting shop rooms that come to mind when you think of the horses.
In Summary
The biggest financial contributor to horse racing comes from the betting industry, but that is not a guaranteed revenue stream. As covered above, the amount of money being wagered on horse racing has been gradually declining over the past decade or so.
Much of that has been attributed to demographic shifts which are seeing younger people drawn more to online casino games and football betting than horse racing. If this trend does continue horse racing will be forced to diversify and find revenue streams from other sectors.
Deals with champagne companies and Australian wine producers might go some way to filling the void left by the gambling industry but they won’t pay the bills on their own.