Ladbrokes secures £3m Rugby League sponsorship deal

Ladbrokes will sponsor Rugby League’s Challenge Cup for the next three seasons in a deal reported to be worth around £1m a year.

The Ladbrokes Challenge Cup kicks-off at the end of this month and culminates in the Grand Final scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium on 29 August.

Challenge Cup fixtures are broadcast across the BBC and Sky Sports and last year’s final reached a cumulative audience of over 7.2 million, with the sport’s governing body the Rugby Football League (RFL) estimating Ladbrokes to benefit from more than 1,000 hours of dedicated global TV coverage over the course of the contract.

RFL’s commercial director Chris Rawlings said the partnership would “bring great benefits to both parties”, while outgoing Ladbrokes CEO Richard Glynn commented on the recent growth in the sport.

“This exclusive deal will bring Ladbrokes unprecedented access to the action, which all of our customers have become accustomed to as part of The Ladbrokes Life,” Glynn added.

“2015 already promises to be bigger and better, and this is a fantastic opportunity for Ladbrokes to engage with Rugby League stakeholders on both an elite and grassroots level to continue the rapid growth of the sport,” he added.

The announcement of the deal comes after William Hill replaced Ladbrokes as the title sponsor of the PDC World Darts Championship following the darts body’s decision to up its asking price.