Who Sponsors Cheltenham Festival & Other Cheltenham Races?

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest events on the National Hunt calendar. As well as the hundreds of thousands of people that actually turn up to Prestbury Park in order to watch the races, there are also millions of others that tune it on televisions around the world. As a result, the event is one that appeals to companies that are hoping to get their name into the public domain. Little wonder, then, that becoming a sponsor of a race that is run during Festival week is something that most big companies want to do.

From Boodles to WellChild, Ryanair to Paddy Power, some of the biggest companies in the world are happy to be associated with the Festival on account of the publicity that their sponsorship will gain them. The question is, why would companies want to pay large amounts of money in order to become part of the Prestbury Park family? It isn’t necessarily all that easy to answer, of course, but there is certainly an extent to which different companies will feel as though the sort of people that watch the Cheltenham Festival would make excellent customers for them in the future.

Cheltenham Festival Race Sponsors

Race Sponsors Other Cheltenham Races

What Race Sponsorship Entails

Each racecourse around the country will have its own benefits and packages available to sponsors, so Cheltenham is no exception. The biggest difference for Prestbury Park compared to many other countries is that the races that tend to be on offer for those that are watching, either on TV or in person, are some of the most famous in jump racing. Whilst the Grand National is obviously a much-loved race in the UK and around the world, the reality is that it is only the ‘World’s Greatest Steeplechase’ that most people tune in to watch.

With the Cheltenham Festival, there is barely a race that won’t have a massive audience. Though the bumpers and other events at the end of the racing day are less appealing, which is why the main broadcaster tends not to show them, they are still respected races that those in the industry take extremely seriously. For this reason, it is worth exploring what it is that sponsoring a race during Festival week actually entails. In short, it depends on the race being sponsored and the package that the sponsoring company has opted for, with many different ones on offer.

That is to say, there is obviously a difference between a company choosing to sponsor the final race on the second day of the meeting and sponsoring the Gold Cup. Consequently, it is common for those sponsoring the biggest races to have to pay more for the privilege, but also to get more bang for their buck. The racing industry is worth £3.45 Billion, so it is hardly a surprise that companies want to be associated with it. For the Jockey Club, which owns Cheltenham Racecourse, working with a partner is a chance to put their name front and centre.

As Carey Weeks, the South West’s Regional Head of Partnerships for the Jockey Club puts it,

“Creating the Partnership is not just about placing your brand name against a race, it’s about building a relationship between two businesses, utilising a wealth of experience and ensuring your brand is at the forefront of people’s minds.”

In other words, sponsoring a race during the Cheltenham Festival is a two-way street, in which the racecourse gains and the sponsor also benefits, so it is in everyone’s best interest to ensure that the sponsorship is as successful as possible all of the time.

What’s In It For The Sponsors?

It is easy enough to understand that sponsors of races during the Cheltenham Festival get exposure. For the biggest races, they get them either named after the company or else run in association with it. It is quite common, for example, for people to refer to the Spa Novices’ Hurdle simply as ‘the Albert Bartlett’. For the vegetable supply company, that is publicity that money can’t buy. There is so much more than just the brand association that is relevant for sponsors, though. The cameras at the course are positioned carefully to ensure that the sponsor’s name is always in shot, for example.

With nearly 500,000 people visiting Cheltenham Racecourse each year specifically for the Festival and close to four million television viewers, it is easy to see why such things can matter to sponsors. The fact that there is also an affiliation with the Jockey Club thanks to the sponsorship also helps, as does the international reach that is boasted by the Festival. Then there are the added benefits away from the track that will be hugely appealing to the majority of clients that are likely to get involved with the Cheltenham Festival. These are the likes of:

• Client events
• Adverts on the big screen
• Mentions on the social media of the Jockey Club
• Adverts in racecards
• An appearance in the Festival Preview Magazine
• Product sampling and promotional staff
• Links on the Jockey Club’s website
• Banners on the racecourse

All of this is best summed up by the words of Charles Hamer, the Director of Racing for Pol Roger’s portfolio, who said,

“Not only does sponsorship deliver excellent brand exposure and client entertaining opportunities but also, since the start of our sponsorship of the Glenfarclas Cross Country series, we have seen an average 40% growth in turnover per annum.”

Words that would doubtless appeal to most companies that consider sponsoring a race that is due to run during the Cheltenham Festival.

Similar words were said by the Chairman of Ultima, Max McNeil, who said,

“Ultima, both in terms of profile and brand awareness, has benefitted enormously from its association with Cheltenham.”

To put it another way, companies that have had long associations with the Cheltenham Festival have found it to be a hugely beneficial connection for their business, which has paid dividends in the long-run. All of which helps to explain why high-end companies such as Bentley, Boodles and the Close Brothers continue to sponsor events during Festival week.

How Much Does It Cost?

In reality, it is very difficult to find out how much sponsorship costs for companies, not least of all because it is an ever-moving target. For example, Boodles sponsored the Juvenile Handicap Hurdle in 2018 in a move that will have cost the jewellery company a not insignificant amount of money. The company has reached an agreement to sponsor the Gold Cup for the 2022 running of the event, but the deal to do so might well have cost them less than four years earlier for a lesser event on account of the lack of competition.

For this year’s Festival, the Jockey Club was struggling to find sponsors after the 2020 renewal was considered to be something of a super-spreader event. The lack of immediate and obvious sponsors will have made it easier for Boodles to negotiate a cheaper price for its sponsorship of the Gold Cup, even though it is a blue riband event and one of the most-watched races in the world. After all, if no other companies are fighting for the right to sponsor it, that reduces the negotiation ability of the race organisers.

Such was the problem with sponsorship, in fact, that the Jockey Club reached an agreement with WellChild in 2021, allowing the charity to associate its name with the biggest event in jump racing for free. The shorthand way of working out how much an event is likely to have cost to sponsor is by looking at the prize money on offer. The higher the prize money, the more that a sponsor is likely to have paid to be associated with the event, given that prize money is usually indicative of a race’s importance and prestige.

Cheltenham’s Long-Term Sponsors

There are a number of companies that have had a long-term association with the Cheltenham Festival. For differing reasons and with links to varying races, the companies have sponsored something at Prestbury Park every year for a long time, becoming almost synonymous with the events that they’ve sponsored.

We have already mentioned Albert Bartlett, but there are other examples of businesses that have enjoyed their association with the Festival. Here is a look at them all and an exploration of how long they’ve chosen to sponsor races: