Just a few months after ending their sponsorship of key UK horse races and meetings due to the fall-out of the Gambling Tax hikes, Coral have confirmed a new commercial partnership.
They will be the principal sponsor of Birmingham City FC, with their logo appearing on the front of the Championship club’s shirt. Their branding will also be on display around their famous St Andrews home.
It’s a move that has caught many off guard, but perhaps confirms the suspicion that Coral’s decision to end their involvement in UK horse racing was due to the sport’s celebration in successfully campaigning for racing tax to be frozen… while other areas of the bookmaker’s business have been hit hard.
End of An Era
It was back in January that Coral confirmed they were ending their association with the Cheltenham Festival.
The Entain firm had been involved with the flagship meeting since 1974, first sponsoring the Coral Golden Hurdle and then the Coral Cup from 1993.
Coral have also sponsored other races and entire meetings, becoming a key ally to racing at a time when its financial burdens are as challenging as they’ve ever been.
But the relationship changed back in November 2025, when stakeholders in horse racing joint forces to protest against the government’s planned Gambling Tax increases – launching their ‘Axe the Racing Tax campaign.
That would ultimately prove to be successful, with the sport earning a reprieve as the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, froze the duty paid on horse racing bets at 15%.
However, other products within the betting portfolio were not so fortunate, with Remote Gaming Duty effectively doubled from 21% to 40% and online sports betting tax hiked from 15% to 25%.
There was a feeling amongst bookmakers that horse racing had gone into bat for itself, rather than the betting industry as a collective, and so some animosity – even if not vocalised – has been evidenced.
Horse racing is not a cash cow for bookmakers; the rights to stream races costs a pretty penny, while promotions like Best Odds Guaranteed do the bookies few favours. The sport also remains adrift of football as a popular betting vehicle.
Given that the UK betting industry pumps a considerable amount of money into horse racing via the levy fund, the lack of support when protesting the planned tax changes did not go unnoticed.
Coral ended their lengthy association with the Cheltenham Festival, although they will continue to sponsor the Coral-Eclipse and the Scottish Grand National.
Their Entain stablemates, BetMGM, pulled the plug on their sponsorship of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, while another leading firm also withdrew their financial support for the Craven meeting and the July Festival at Newmarket – leaving race organisers with a headache in finding a replacement willing to stump up the same level of payment.
Blues Brothers
It was announced yesterday that Coral will use their money saved to sponsor Birmingham City instead.
The Blues, who finished tenth in the Championship last season and are part-owned by NFL legend Tom Brady, will be hoping to push for promotion in the new campaign, which gets underway in August.
Coral will step up from the role of official betting partner to main sponsor, with their logo on the front of the new men’s and women’s Birmingham City kit, which was also launched yesterday.
A shirt inspired by and made for Birmingham, launched through a campaign made by its people. 🔵
We are proud to unveil our home kit for 2026/27.
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) July 27, 2026
Unfortunately, the launch has not gone smoothly, with some of the club’s fans describing the shirt as the ‘worst I’ve seen for years.’
The partnership is especially noteworthy as this is the first time in more than 100 years that Coral has sponsored a football club in this way.
During the 2025/26 season, the British bookmaking firm pledged to donate £500 for every goal that the men’s and women’s teams scored at home to the Birmingham City Foundation – more than £40,000 was handed over, with the same deal in place for the 2026/27 campaign.
The managing director at Entain, Bejay Patel, commented:
“This is the first time in Coral’s history that we have become a front-of-shirt football sponsor and who better to do that with than Blues, a club that shares our long history and our passion in putting fans first.”
The partnership could be short-lived, however. Birmingham are priced at 4/1 for promotion, which would see them return to the Premier League.
And, as of this 2026/27 campaign, all front-of-shirt sponsorships between EPL clubs and betting operators have been voluntarily banned – meaning that the Blues would need to find a new partner should they ascend to the top-flight.