William Hill has become the QIPCO Guineas Festival’s Official Betting Partner, as announced on April 24th by The Jockey Club. The event is set to take place from May 3rd to May 5th, and a total of 15 upcoming races have been sponsored by the betting giant, including but not limited to the Group Two Jockey Club Stakes and the £100,000 Heritage Handicaps.
William Hill has long been one of the major partners of the UK horse racing scene, kick-starting the Arena Racing Company Grand Prix in 2007, which, at the time, was named the William Hill Grand Prix. The sportsbook’s business relationship with The Jockey Club, in particular, has been fantastic, and just this month, William Hill served as the Official Betting Partner of Aintree’s Randox Grand National Festival. The bookmaker also owns and operates a betting shop located in the Millennium Grandstand of the Rowley Mile Racecourse. What is more, the Thursday announcement highlighted that William Hill’s founder, whom the company is named after, was the breeder of Nimbus, the winner of the 2000 Guineas and Derby held in 1949.
Sophie Able, who serves as the General Manager and International Director of the Newmarket Racecourse, issued a statement during Thursday’s announcement where she commemorated the opportunity to “build on” the excellent relationship between The Jockey Club and William Hill. She also expressed gratitude to William Hill for the sportsbook’s role in sponsoring 15 QIPCO Guineas Festival races.
Daryl West, Head of Media, Sponsorship and Social at William Hill, claimed William Hill was “thrilled” to be the QIPCO Guineas Festival’s Official Betting Partner and celebrated the participation of the current market leader horse, named City Of Troy.
The Future of Betting Sponsorships of UK Horse Racing Is Uncertain
Although William Hill is just one of the various betting companies that serve as valuable partners in British sports, a certain proposal included in the Government’s Gambling White Paper, which is set to overhaul UK legislation when it comes to gambling, might make it difficult for sportsbooks to support British racing as much as they have thus far.
The said measure seeks to implement affordability checks in terms of online betting. Should the bill come into effect, the checks would be triggered by net losses of £125 per month and £500 per year. In response, The Jockey Club’s CEO, Nevin Truesdale, organised a petition seeking to halt the government’s plans to implement the said checks. According to him, they would not succeed in preventing gambling harm and would lead to an estimated £50 million loss for UK horse racing annually. In spite of these concerns, however, there are currently no plans to do away with this piece of legislation.
Across the Irish Sea, gambling legislation has also become a point of contention between gambling reform advocates and various Irish industries. As reported by the Irish Independent yesterday, the country’s national television and radio broadcaster, RTÉ, has been airing online radio adverts promoting 888 Casino and Mr Green. An RTÉ spokesperson told the Irish Independent that the said advertising was in line with the guidelines that the RTÉ Radio adheres to, according to which such ads are only prohibited from 5:00 am until 10:00 am.
However, the government is currently aiming to introduce a pre-watershed ban that, if passed as part of the planned Gambling Regulation Bill 2022, would ban gambling adverts from being aired between 5:30 am and 9:00 pm. Broadcasters, bookmakers, representatives of Irish horse racing, and even charity organisations have lobbied against this section of the bill, but this has not led to any tangible results thus far and attempts to amend the said proposal on Wednesday were unsuccessful. Online ads, in particular, will also require the consent of users according to current plans, as explained by law firm McCann FitzGerald. Such ads will only be presented if the on-demand service (social media platform, video-sharing website, etc.) in question requires a subscription.
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Daniel Williams
