SPECIALIST BANKING and asset management company Investec has extended its title sponsorship of the Derby for a further ten years until 2021, making it the biggest single sponsorship agreement in the history of British horseracing.
Agreed with Epsom Downs Racecourse, Investec’s contribution is likely to be in the region of eight figures, with the Telegraph newspaper reporting the value of the deal at around £30m.
Investec first sponsored the Derby in 2009, agreeing a five-year deal to partner with the two-day festival through to 2013, meaning there are two races (including 2012) left on the original contract.
The new deal, however, supersedes the existing contract with the first year of the ten-year partnership coming this year with the race scheduled for early June, carrying a newly-inflated prize money purse of £1.325m – the most lucrative event in British racing.
Frontloaded understands that racing officials consider Investec’s extension to be a significant endorsement of the decision to move national television coverage of the Derby from the BBC to Channel 4.
It should be noted that Investec has history with commercial deals of this length. In November 2011 the brand agreed a ten-year deal for title sponsorship rights of English national Test cricket.
The London and South Africa-based firm is also the shirt sponsor of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, agreeing a two-year deal in 2010, as well as the principal partner of England and Great Britain women’s hockey, signing a five-year partnership in 2011.
Negotiations for the Derby sponsorship renewal were led by Raymond van Niekerk, global head of marketing at Investec and Rupert Trevelyan, managing director of Epsom Downs Racecourse.
By Luke Harman
Follow Luke on Twitter: @lukeharmanSBG