Ladbrokes Coral extends marketing offers and braces itself for FOBT fallout

Ladbrokes and Coral have announced extensions to marketing deals, with the firms looking to counter the adverse effects of cuts to FOBT stakes.
Customers of both GVC Holdings-run operators will be able to take advantage of the offer from 8am every day. The offer will now include lay-to-lose bets, however it will only be eligible for the first £100 of a particular wager.
As well as the reduction in FOBT stakes, British operators will soon also have to deal with a hike in Remote Gaming Duty, up from 15% to 21%. Such an increase is expected to have a knock-on effect for affiliates, with less money in the pot all round. Tipstrr Managing Director Damien Fearn previously told Affiverse how this would “ultimately trickle down to the users and affiliates”.
Speaking to the Racing Post about the deal extension, Ladbrokes Coral PR Director Simon Clare said: “This is the biggest racing offer ever to hit the high street, and is a clear signal of our intent as we face up to a new era for betting shops from April 1.
“There is no question that a seismic change in our betting shop business is going to occur when the FOBT stake restrictions come into force, but we are now taking pre-emptive action with the launch of this significant betting shop offer, which will boost our horse racing business and also our betting shop footfall as we prepare for the challenge ahead.”
To ensure that the news of the offer extension is spread quickly, the two companies are set to place significant focus upon marketing programmes and campaigns to be launched via the press, social media and betting shops.
The cuts to FOBT stakes from £100 to £2, which are due to be implemented from April 1, are expected to result in a considerable drop in revenue for bookmakers across the country.  The legislation is predicted to result in the closure of around 1,000 betting shops according to Ladbrokes Coral.
Clare added: “Whilst betting shops will inevitably close as a result of the changes to FOBT stakes, there is a huge opportunity to re-energise and refocus all those that remain to become ever more vibrant, social, sports betting hubs where people come to watch live sport and enjoy a flutter, and horseracing will be the most important sport of them all within this vision of the future.
“By matching the universally popular best-odds guaranteed horse racing concession that exists online, we have removed a major disincentive to bet on horse racing in our betting shops versus online, and we hope this will lead to a significant upturn in racing business levels over the coming weeks and months.”