Ladbrokes About To Drop Sponsorships Following Crackdown on Gambling Machines

A significant reduction of the maximum bet on fixed-odds betting terminals could force Ladbrokes Coral to cut its £8-million annual spending on sponsorships of different sports, including horse racing, the BBC reports.

The company runs UK’s largest chain of betting shops with FOBTs. Ladbrokes Coral, which is set to be acquired by Isle of Man-based online gambling operator GVC Holdings in a £4-billion deal, collects more than half of its retail revenue from FOBTs.

British MPs are currently discussing by how much the maximum bet on the machines should be reduced to curb problem gambling. Under one of the popular proposals, the stake could be cut down to as little as £2 from £100.

Ladbrokes Coral has revealed that a reduction of this proportion would inflict losses of thousands of millions of pounds upon its business. To offset these, the bookmaker would look to make cuts elsewhere, as reported by the BBC.

At present, Ladbrokes Coral sponsors the Scottish Professional Football League and the Rugby Football League Challenge Cup as well as a number of horse racing events. The operator said that horse racing might actually be the sport that would suffer the least from a cut of the maximum stake on FOBTs. The company spends £3.5 million for horse racing sponsorships each year.

Ladbrokes Coral has said that “horse racing is in the bookie DNA”, with sponsorships and partnerships going back many years. That association and history makes the sport very valuable to Britain’s bookmaking industry, the operator has further pointed out, which places horse racing high on Ladbrokes Coral’s list to continue working with and sponsoring.