When hefty new taxes on the gambling industry were first announced back in November 2025, operators like Entain, Flutter Entertainment and Evoke all said that marketing would be an early casualty.

Gambling PLCs are beginning to make good on this promise, with Entain revealing this week one of its two major sportsbook brands, Coral, has dropped its 52 year sponsorship of the Coral Cup, one of main events of the Cheltenham Festival – in turn one of the biggest events in the UK horseracing calendar.

The Coral Cup was first set up in 1993 and has been sponsored by the bookmaker since its inception. Coral would merge with competitor Ladbrokes in 2016 to form Ladbrokes Coral, which was subsequently bought by Entain (then GVC Holdings) in 2017.

Entain has pinned its decision solely on the forthcoming UK tax situation. From April, Remote Gaming Duty (RGD), paid by all online gaming operators, will go up from 21% to 40%.

While Ladbrokes and Coral both maintain a retail presence, which has been largely left alone by the tax hikes, its online businesses will be hit hard by this, and costs need to be adjusted for.

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm Coral will not be renewing its long-standing sponsorship of the Coral Cup,” said Simon Clare, Entain’s UK PR and Sponsorship Director.

“Coral has proudly been the longest-running sponsor at the Cheltenham Festival since 1974, but the scale of the recent tax increase on betting operators means we must take difficult decisions to mitigate its impact.

“Ending our sponsorship after 52 years is incredibly regrettable, but reflects the need to reassess where and how we invest under the new cost landscape.”

What follows marketing cuts?

The prospect of marketing budgets shrinking as a result of the tax changes has hardly been kept a secret – as stated above, Entain, Evoke and Flutter all said in the immediate aftermath of the Autumn budget that their marketing spend would likely go down in 2026.

A reduction of 20% has been thrown around the most, and Coral’s cutting of its Cheltenham sponsorship could be the first of many seen across the industry. It may also not bode well for racing in general, which managed to escape the worst of the tax increases.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) organised a long-running campaign against potential tax hikes on horseracing, the #AxeTheRacingTax campaign. Ultimately, the government opted to put taxes up only on betting and gaming, and specifically on online gaming at that.

The blow to profits this will deal the industry will continue to have an impact on racing and retail betting regardless, however. The rollback of sponsorships and the closure of betting shops, the latter having been detailed by Evoke in its financials earlier this week, are the most obvious examples of both of these.

Despite cutting Coral’s sponsorship of Cheltenham, Entain remains adamant that it is committed to British horseacting. The sport remains a core betting vertical after all, being the second most bet on sport in the UK after football, but the industry’s commercial relationship with the sport will undoubtedly change this year.

“The Jockey Club remains a valued and long-standing partner, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration across the many major Coral and Ladbrokes sponsorships we continue to support,” Clare remarked.

“Horse racing remains hugely important to Entain, and we will maintain significant investment across some of the sport’s biggest events, including the Ladbrokes King George and the Coral-Eclipse.

“Cheltenham will continue to be a major moment for our customers, and we will promote the Festival across all our channels as strongly as ever.

“However, with higher taxation and racing’s already high cost base—driven by media rights and the statutory levy—it is essential that the sport and the betting industry work together to grow racing’s appeal while ensuring it remains financially sustainable. We are committed to working constructively with our partners to support racing’s long-term health.”