Ladbrokes and Coral to extend best-odds guaranteed offer to betting shops

Ladbrokes and Coral are to extend their best-odds guaranteed offer to all over-the-counter bets on UK and Irish racing from Monday as the firms look to boost betting shop business in the face of the looming FOBT stake cut.

High street customers of the two firms, which both operate as part of the GVC Holdings group, will be able to take advantage of the offer from 8am every day if they have a Ladbrokes Grid or Coral Connect card.

Betting shop numbers are expected to fall as a result of the government's decision to cut FOBT stakes to £2 from £100 from April 1, with GVC having predicted that 1,000 of their shops could close.

The launch of the concession will be supported with a full marketing campaign for both Ladbrokes and Coral brands, including press and social media advertising, as well as in the shops themselves.

Simon Clare of Ladbrokes Coral: a new era for betting shops is coming on April 1Credit: Ian Walton

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 horseracing business and also our betting shop footfall as we prepare for the challenge ahead."

Other high street bookmakers' BOG terms

Betfred
Any two specified British or Irish meetings will be the BOG meetings of the day. BOG applies to all bets placed in shops from 7am until 15 minutes before race time and applies to all bets above a 20p stake. Plus, a daily 'happy hour' from 11am-1pm, when BOG applies to all British and Irish meetings.

Paddy Power
The firm's spokesman Paul Binfield said: "In the UK we've had a range of BOG offerings, from a one-hour 'happy hour' in some shops to singles and multiples all day in others. Currently the minimum you'll find in any Paddy Power Shop is a two-hour 'happy hour' with BOG on singles and multiples from 11am-1pm. In Ireland we've BOG on singles all day - after ten years this has become a term of trade in the market across all operators."

William Hill

Currently not offered in retail.

Coral and Ladbrokes have both introduced lay-to-lose guarantees in betting shops and the best-odds offer applies to the first £100 of a bet.

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 horseracing concession that exists online, we have removed a major disincentive to bet on horseracing 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."

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