[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1 link=same] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=2]

Skip to Content

SPORTS BETTING

UK – Flutter’s British brands brought in over £250m during Cheltenham Festival

By - 23 March 2023

Last week’s Cheltenham Festival saw Flutter’s three flagship UK&I brands – Sky Betting & Gaming, Paddy Power Sportsbook and Betfair – take in well over £250m in stakes and execute around 37m in online bets across the week. With a timely St Patrick’s Day coinciding with the Gold Cup last Friday, recreational customer engagement in Paddy Power shops across the U.K. and Ireland was also strong.

As the very pinnacle of horseracing’s National Hunt season, the Festival is always guaranteed to deliver a few iconic moments. However, few fans of the sport could have predicted this year’s trifecta of racing treats – Constitution Hill’s ease in winning the Champion Hurdle; Honeysuckle’s emotional farewell victory for trainer Henry DeBromhead and Rachael Blackmore in the Mares’ Hurdle; and of course, Galopin Des Champs’ sublime finish to win the Gold Cup as favourite.

It was nail-biting from a bookmaking perspective, with a customer-friendly set of results on Tuesday – when five favorites won – offset by many outsiders winning across Thursday and Friday. As a result, Flutter’s UK&I brands finished the week in the black, but didn’t have it all their own way.

Envoi Allen, Sire Du Berlais and Stage Star were the top three winners for customers, all of which combined cost our UK&I brands an eight-figure sum. Fortunately, two of these – Envoi Allen and Stage Star – beat heavily-backed losing favorites – Shishkin and Mighty Potter – to help balance the books. A Plus Tard, which failed in its attempt to win back-to-back Gold Cups with Betfair’s newest ambassador Blackmore, rounded out the top three losing picks for customers.

There were also some big wins across our low-staking, recreational customer base. Two lucky punters scooped £100k and £200k on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively as part of the Sky Bet-sponsored and free-to-play competition, ITV7. Meanwhile, a Paddy Power retail customer in Kildare, Ireland, won €75k on a 20p ‘Lucky 63’ bet that picked out seven winners.

“It was another memorable Cheltenham, and it was pleasing this year to see the Festival’s mass market appeal mirror the recreational nature of our customer base,” said Reflecting on a week of top-drawer racing, Flutter’s Chief Trading Officer Dom Crosthwaite. “We delivered a great customer proposition for our flagship brands, with a series of recent product upgrades and marketing campaigns driving strong staking levels of well over £250m. This was all made possible by our talented colleagues in Flutter UK&I, who worked incredibly well to seamlessly manage over 37m online bets across the week.”

Share via
Copy link