Betfred Ends British Classics Sponsorship Citing Machine Games Duty Rise

^{The Tattenham Straight at Epsom, home of the Derby and the Oaks. Betfred will not renew its sponsorship of the five Classics. (Photo: Nick Smith / geograph.org.uk via Wikimedia Commons)}

Betfred has decided not to renew its sponsorship of the five British Flat racing Classics, saying the rise in machine games duty announced in the latest Budget left it "no choice". The bookmaker confirmed the decision on 5 November.

The deal covers the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, the Derby and Oaks at Epsom, and the St Leger at Doncaster. Betfred said it had taken the decision not to proceed with a three-year renewal.

What Betfred Said

"Following successive tax rises for the betting industry, and in particular the increase to machine-game duty at the most recent budget, it is with great sadness that we have taken the difficult decision not to proceed with a three-year renewal of our sponsorship of the British Classics," the company said in a statement.

"It is not a decision we wanted to make but the cumulative cost of government policy left us with no choice."

The Budget lifted machine games duty to 25% from 20%. That is well short of the 40% some in the industry had feared, but Betfred argues the increase still reshapes the economics of its retail estate.

The Retail Maths

Reports on the announcement say Betfred's own analysis found that 284 of its 1,094 betting shops, about 26% of the estate, would no longer be profitable after the change. The company is understood to be starting a strategic review of its shops, with more than 1,000 jobs in its retail business at risk.

Co-founder Fred Done had signalled the outcome in advance. He had warned that Betfred would step back from backing British racing if the Chancellor raised gambling taxes again, and the company has already pulled back elsewhere. Betfred recently ended its rugby league sponsorship, citing UK gambling tax rises.

The industry lobbying around the duty was intense in the run-up to the Budget. The Betting and Gaming Council had publicly questioned the evidence behind the projected £458m machine games duty rise, and bookmakers repeatedly linked retail closures to the tax.

A Short History of the Deal

Betfred began sponsoring the Classics in 2023, taking the Derby and Oaks, and added the St Leger ahead of the 2024 renewal. It then stepped in as title sponsor of the Guineas Festival at Newmarket from 2025, after QIPCO stepped back, a move that also saw it replace William Hill as official betting partner of those races.

The loss leaves racing with a significant hole to fill. Epsom Racecourse has said it has a number of interested prospective partners for its two Classics, though it has not said whether any are bookmakers. The sport has been wary of the wider tax picture for some time, and earlier in the year there were warnings that horse racing could be caught in tax increases aimed at online gaming.

No replacement sponsors have been named for any of the five races. The Classics are run each spring and summer on the Flat calendar, so any new backers will need to be lined up well ahead of the Guineas meeting at Newmarket.