32Red defends Stewards' Cup sponsorship deal
One-year agreement sparks controversy as historic Stewards' Cup is renamed the 32Red Cup
32Red has urged UK horseracing to work with the media in order to find a more commercial way of working after the operator defended its decision to rename one of the sport’s most historic races.
Yesterday the operator announced that at next months’ Glorious Goodwood festival the 174-year-old Stewards’ Cup will instead be known as the ’32Red Cup’ as part of a one-year sponsorship deal with a two-year extension being considered by Goodwood.
The deal has been met with fierce opposition in some quarters. Former horseracing commentator Sir Peter O’Sullevan said the renaming of the race would be “sweeping away years of tradition” while racing fans took to social media to bemoan the name change.
32Red isn’t the first sponsor within the betting industry to rename a horserace. Earlier examples include Betfair renaming Haydock’s Lancashire Chase the ‘Betfair Chase’ while Sky Bet has changed the name of Doncaster’s Great Yorkshire Chase to the ‘Sky Bet Chase’.
And speaking to eGaming Review, 32Red commercial director Matt Booth said this trend could continue unless the British Horseracing Authority and media organisations got together and agreed to reference the full name of races, including title sponsors.
In 2010 the operator, which is one of the most active sponsors of UK horseracing with more than 1,000 race deals, sponsored Newmarket’s Bunbury Cup and renamed it the 32Red Bunbury Cup, however, it said that it found little reference was made to the 32Red brand.
“We saw that that investment was potentially wasted funds when you see media and third parties still reference the race as the Bunbury Cup with no reference to the 32Red brand at all,” Booth said.
The following year the operator renamed the race the 32Red Trophy, a decision which also sparked much debate, particularly among horseracing traditionalists and the media, although this decision was later reversed.
“We said we’d listen to the media as there were promises that the race would be referenced as the 32Red Bunbury Cup, so we changed the name back and respected the traditions,” Booth said.
“We also had a race sponsorship at Sandown called the 32Red Tolworth Hurdle and then you see in the media that races are still be referenced as the Tolwarth Hurdle and the Bunbury Cup so you ask yourself why you make that investment into the sport,” he added.
Although Booth said he understood the argument that horseracing needed to protect its traditions, he was also of the view that something must change if the sport was to continue to attract outside investment.
“If racing worked together and worked with the media and suggested a platform for heritage races in that if there is a sponsor of the race it was part of the duty to reference the sponsor, then sponsors would be more likely to associate themselves with those races,” Booth said.
As part of the deal with Goodwood, 32Red is also set to sponsor the first race on the fourth day of the five-day festival, a race it has called the 32RedSport.com Handicap, a consolation race for those that don’t make it into the 32Red Cup.
The naming of the race marks the first significant above the line marketing of 32Red’s Kambi-powered sportsbook which was launched last month.