Betfred pens title sponsorship deal with golf’s British Masters

Bookmaker Betfred has agreed a two-year deal to become the new title sponsor of golf’s British Masters.

The agreement covers both the 2019 and 2020 editions of the event, which is a regular feature on the European Tour, one of the event series operated by the PGA Tour.

The competition, which will now be known as the Betfred British Masters, will this year take place at the Hillside Golf Club in Southport, England.

“Betfred has a strong track record in sponsorship across a number of sports, including rugby, football, snooker and horse racing, and we are thrilled the British Masters will now be their first golf sponsorship,” European Tour chief executive, Keith Pelley, said.

Betfred chief executive Fred Done said the decision by last year’s winner, Tommy Fleetwood, to stage the event in the north west of England help influence the deal. Betfred’s headquarters in Warrington is around one hour away from the Hillside Golf Club.

Done said: “I’ve been looking at golf sponsorship for some time so when the British Masters, with Tommy Fleetwood hosting in the North West, was put to me it seemed the perfect opportunity to get involved. 

“I am absolutely delighted to see the Betfred brand alongside such a high profile event in the sport of golf.”

The deal has been made possible after the PGA Tour this week announced that it is expanding its sponsorship programme and will consider gambling companies as official marketing partners for all six of its tours.

The PGA Tour will allow its tournaments and players to seek sponsored deals with such entities, having previously prohibited any association with gambling companies.

In the US, the revised rules will be limited to larger casino companies and daily fantasy sports brands, and will not apply to companies with a primary focus on sports betting, such as bookmakers William Hill and Bet365. However these companies can be considered for such deals outside of the US.

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