British racing facing 40 percent sponsorship drop February 25th, 2009
British horse racing should brace itself for a 40 percent drop in sponsorship during the recession, a senior executive has warned.
David Thorpe, chairman of the Racecourse Association, described the diminishing interest of big-money backers as very serious.
The economic situation is working against us but the racecourses arent going to take it lying down, Thorpe told the British Horseracing conference Monday. They have to be creative and innovative with their sponsorship but it is a circular argument in that we have tohave toget the broadcast and terrestrial television rights to make it attractive.
Over the last four years, sponsors contribution to prize money has slumped by more than $4.4 million, according to the British Horseracing Authoritys annual report.
BHA chairman Paul Roy said Britain is experiencing the scariest economic recession in our lifetime.
No one knows how long this will last but markets will almost certainly not recover until banks worldwide get properly recapitalized and are stable enough to return confidence to the system.