Crabbie’s ginger beer is to take over sponsorship of the Grand National in 2014 from Heineken’s John Smiths, as part of a multimillion-pound three-year deal.
Halewood International, which owns the Crabbie’s brand, said the event at Aintree is likely to reach a TV audience of around nine million people in the UK and 600 million worldwide, as well as 150,000 people attending the three-day steeplechase festival in April.
As part of the deal, the brand receives naming rights for three races: the Crabbie’s Fox Hunters’ Chase on the opening day, the Crabbie’s Topham Chase and the Crabbie’s Grand National. It will be the first time the race will offer £1m in prize money – an ambition Aintree had hoped to fulfill under John Smith’s sponsorship.
Halewood International’s deputy chairman Peter Eaton said the Grand National was a “perfect partnership” for the brand in both its UK and international ambitions. He said Crabbie’s was enjoying considerable success in the US, Canada and Australia and was the number-one bottled ale in the UK.
The brand already had a longstanding relationship with Aintree through the Halewood family. The company’s founder, John Halewood, owned a horse that competed in the race 11 times and won the Grand National in 2004 and the Becher Chase in 2001.
“It has always been the family’s ambition to sponsor the Grand National and we are very excited to have this opportunity,” Eaton added.
John Baker, regional director of Aintree and the North West for Jockey Club Racecourses, said the partnership with the “exciting, fun and relevant brand” would increase the event as a major promotional platform – and help boost the popularity of the race. The Grand National has attracted controversy in recent years because a number of horses have died or have had to be put down.
Next year’s Grand National meeting will be held 3-5 April.
Ale brand John Smith has been the title sponsor of the event since 2005 after extending its initial three-year deal.
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