Sportsbet has signed a new five-year contract with Melbourne Racing Club (MRC), beginning in January 2024.
Both brands will synergise their core values to reposition horse racing in a way that reaches new audiences and reaches more sporting fans. The partnership will span across digital, marketing, customer engagement and several activations on key Caulfield Cup Carnival periods throughout the racing season.
A non-profit members club, the MRC has more than 12,000 members and a calendar of over 80 race meetings every year across the state of Victoria’s Caulfield, Mornington and Sandown racetracks.
The agreement with Flutter-owned Sportsbet will include all three tracks, with Sportsbet also becoming the naming rights partner for the Caulfield Cup Carnival and the Caulfield Cup.
Barni Evans, Sportsbet CEO, said: “Sportsbet is excited to partner with the MRC, an incredibly successful and progressive Club, and we look forward to bringing to life our shared ambition of attracting new audiences to racing.
“We’re always looking to do more for the community and we’re particularly proud to be contributing AU$125,000 each year of the partnership to the MRC Foundation, supporting local communities and helping racing industry participants.”
The AU$125k (£65.9m) cash contribution will be used to support the operations of the MRC Foundation, which is the club’s charitable arm that houses its community-focused business.
Josh Blanksby, Melbourne Racing Club CEO, said: “This is the most significant partnership in the Club’s history, and we’re thrilled to be working with Sportsbet, Australia’s largest wagering provider, to open up the sport to more audiences and futureproof racing on the sporting stage.
“We’re excited by the opportunities that partnering with such an iconic brand in the sport and racing spaces presents, and we look forward to introducing a greater sporting audience to our racing product through Sportsbet’s impressive market share.”
