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

Gambling PLCs are beginning to make great on this pledge, with Entain exposing this week among its 2 significant sportsbook brand names, Coral, has dropped its 52 year sponsorship of the Coral Cup, among centerpieces 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 bookie since its creation. Coral would merge with rival Ladbrokes in 2016 to form Ladbrokes Coral, which was subsequently purchased by Entain (then GVC Holdings) in 2017.

Entain has actually pinned its decision exclusively on the upcoming UK tax scenario. From April, Remote Gaming Duty (RGD), paid by all online gaming operators, will increase from 21% to 40%.

While Ladbrokes and Coral both keep a retail existence, which has been mainly left alone by the tax hikes, its online companies will be struck hard by this, and expenses need to be changed for.

"It is with a broken heart that I confirm Coral will not be renewing its long-standing sponsorship of the Coral Cup," said Simon Clare, PR and Sponsorship Director.

"Coral has actually happily been the longest-running sponsor at the Cheltenham Festival considering that 1974, but the scale of the current tax increase on wagering operators indicates we should take hard choices to mitigate its impact.

"Ending our sponsorship after 52 years is incredibly regrettable, however shows the need to reassess where and how we invest under the new expense landscape."

What follows marketing cuts?

The prospect of marketing budget plans diminishing as a result of the tax changes has barely been kept a trick - as stated above, Entain, Evoke and Flutter all stated in the instant consequences of the Autumn budget that their marketing spend would likely go down in 2026.

A reduction of 20% has been tossed around the most, and Coral's cutting of its Cheltenham sponsorship might be the first of numerous seen throughout the industry. It might also not bode well for racing in basic, which managed to escape the worst of the tax increases.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) organised a long-running campaign versus prospective tax walkings on horseracing, the #AxeTheRacingTax campaign. Ultimately, the government decided to put taxes up only on betting and video gaming, and specifically on online gaming at that.

The blow to profits this will deal the industry will continue to have an influence on racing and retail wagering regardless, nevertheless. The rollback of sponsorships and the closure of wagering shops, the latter having actually been detailed by Evoke in its financials previously this week, are the most apparent examples of both of these.

Despite cutting Coral's sponsorship of Cheltenham, Entain stays adamant that it is dedicated to British horseacting. The sport remains a core betting vertical after all, being the 2nd most wager on sport in the UK after football, but the industry's commercial relationship with the sport will unquestionably alter this year.