Cheltenham marketing war kicks off in earnest

BetVictor and Sky Bet are among the first operators to launch Cheltenham promotions as the gambling sector gears up for another customer acquisition and retention war during the Festival.

BetVictor’s headline offer rewards new sign ups with a £2 free bet on every race of the four-day event, provided they place an initial £10 bet on any sport ahead of Tuesday’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

Leeds-based brand Sky Bet is offering customers a free bet up to £20 if their horse loses in any of week’s opening races, while Betway has a similar offer on the first and last races of each day.

Meanwhile, Paddy Power has pledged to award money back as a free bet on horses that finish 2nd in the first five races on each of the four days of the Festival.

Last year Coral paid out more than half a million pounds in free bets for fallers, and will offer the same promotion during his year’s event.

Aggressive Cheltenham offers have come under intense scrutiny in recent years, particularly after the industry collectively lost £60m in 2016 when a host of well-backed favourites came first.

William Hill – which described Cheltenham as a “bloodbath” for the bookies – was hit hard last year and blamed “the worst results at Cheltenham in recent history” as a key reason for issuing a profit warning.

In an article for EGR Intel yesterday, Bede Gaming chairman and racing enthusiast, Joe Saumarez Smith, said: “It is harder than ever for bookmakers to win at Cheltenham. If you look at the results from the past five years, there has been little respite for the oddsmakers”.

Ladbrokes Coral CEO, Jim Mullen, also took his own swipe at the gambling industry’s grandiose attempts to draw in new punters during last year’s Cheltenham, which he said had “abandoned bookmaking principles.”