Unibet ramps up UK push with Royal Windsor partnership

Unibet has increased its focus on the UK market after it signed a deal with Royal Windsor Racecourse to become the venue’s official betting partner for 2014.

The partnership will see Unibet sponsor both the racecourse and more than 20 specific races over the forthcoming horseracing flat season, which got underway last Saturday.

Unibet branding will be present at the racecourse and the operator will also sponsor the track’s owners, trainers and jockeys’ championships over the course of the season.

The deal is set to start on 7 April and run until 31 December and Ed Nicholson, head of UK marketing at Unibet, revealed additional partnerships with horse racing associations are to be revealed in “the coming weeks”.

“The partnership provides us with an opportunity to talk consistently to a targeted group of potential customers, not just in Berkshire, but throughout the country via [At The Races] and branded coverage in all sorts of media,” Nicholson said.

Unibet has targeted the UK as a growth market and CEO Henrik Tjärnström last year revealed his ambition for the operator to become one of the top five sportsbooks in the country on the back of a £3m “summer of sport” advertising campaign, which ran last summer.

News of the deal comes after the UK government last week confirmed its horse racing levy would be extended to include offshore operators, a move which will see operators such as Unibet having to give up a percentage of its UK-horse racing derived profits.