Crabbie’s Title Sponsor Grand National

UK alcoholic ginger beer brand Crabbie’s has been unveiled as the new title sponsor of the Grand National and Grand National Festival.

The three-year deal between Crabbie’s and Aintree will create a £1m ($1.5m) purse at the event for the first time.

Under the deal, the race will now be named the Crabbie’s Grand National at Aintree Racecourse and race organisers the Jockey Club say the deal will allow the firm to reach a potential UK terrestrial TV audience of about nine million and 600 million worldwide.

Peter Eaton, deputy chairman of Halewood International, which owns the brand said: “It has always been the family’s ambition to sponsor the Grand National and we are very excited to have this opportunity.

“With the joint partnership of Crabbie’s, Aintree and The Jockey Club, it’s our aim to take the Grand National to another level.”

As part of the deal, Crabbie’s will receive naming rights for the three races over the Grand National fences during the meeting: the Crabbie’s Fox Hunters’ Chase (Thursday, Grand Opening Day), the Crabbie’s Topham Chase (Friday, Ladies’ Day) and the Crabbie’s Grand National (Saturday, Grand National Day).

John Baker, Regional Director of Aintree and the North West for Jockey Club Racecourses, commented: “We’re thrilled to welcome Crabbie’s as the title sponsor of the world’s most famous steeplechase.

“We’ve agreed a deal with a partner who shares our passion and vision for the Grand National, with the ambition to use it as a major promotional platform and, in the process, help us to reach new heights of popularity for our British sporting crown jewel.”

Warning to Crabbie’s

Sponsorship experts however warned that Crabbie’s would need to make more of the international marketing potential the Grand National offers than their predecessor John Smith.

Nigel Currie, consultant at brandRapport told iSportconnect: “The previous sponsor of the Grand National, John Smiths made a magnificent commitment to the race and indeed to horse racing in the UK in general over the past 8 years.

“However it is unlikely that the brand received much benefit in terms of additional sales through the enormous global appeal of the event.

“Crabbies is a brand that has greater global marketing potential but at present their global footprint is limited.  Perhaps this sponsorship is the start of a greater international drive for a brand which has certainly taken a strong hold in the UK.

“If it is not, this will be another wasted sponsorship opportunity and one which many global brands could have been much better placed to capitalise on.”

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