Brentford FC may be the most notable sponsorship of Hollywoodbets UK and Ireland, but, like South Africa – where community drives sit at the forefront of partnership – the UK and Ireland team have replicated this with grassroots projects close to our hearts.
Dundalk Stadium, Ireland. The most prestigious all-weather track in Ireland was hosting night races through the Covid lockdown. Behind closed doors, this iconic venue close to the border in the north of the country offered great racing a number of times a week. It was to become the stage for the first foray into sponsorships for Hollywoodbets UK and Ireland. Splashing the venue purple, while punters watched from their armchairs, we were able to put our name on the Irish map with this amazing partner. The purple branding stayed until the Covid ban was lifted and horseracing was once again an in-person activity.
Other Racecourses followed suit with The Curragh and Punchestown in Ireland and races at Plumpton in Britain featuring Breast Cancer Awareness events. At the time of venturing into racing, the UK branch included 2 Jockeys as ambassadors: Dan Muscutt, flat track racer and Jamie Moore, jumps racer. Jamie’s wife had valiantly fought breast cancer and, under Jamie’s guidance Hollywoodbets-sponsored races; donated to the raffle and even donated the pink breeches that the jockeys sported for the event.
While Jamie Moore chose to move to a different sponsor as he stepped a little back from racing, Dan has remained with Hollywoodbets. His father, Peter Muscutt is a South African-based and Hollywoodbets-backed Horse trainer and the two paired up this year for a race, with Dan on a Hollywood Syndicate horse, trained by Peter Muscutt, at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth for the WSB Cape Town Met. Dan won the main race at the Cape Met – on Double Superlative – as well as being the 2023 All-weather racing Champion.
From racing to Cricket. Wales was our first port of call with a cricket team, where we supported Panteg Cricket Club’s senior male and female teams. While sport was able to be played behind closed doors and Covid was slowly letting off its grip, we partnered with the club for 2 years. The next cricket club was one close to SA’s heart: Twickenham Cricket Club braais on Friday nights and boasts a number of ex-professional players. Parkend, a community Cricket club, was also added to the sponsorship roster in 2024 with one of our own playing for them.
We signed for a 3rd and 4th season with the Wild Dogs Rugby ladies as they continue to tear up the 7’s circuit with enviable results and wins. Even boasting a Springbok player in the ladies’ side, Wild Dogs Rugby started as a place for SA players in the UK to find a home for their rugby but has grown to include many different nations with the club looking to play in 6 different countries in 2024.
Not to overlook the CSI, Hollywoodbets has the Hollywood Foundation in SA, but we have also managed to get behind community movements in the UK and Ireland. First up was the Punters’ Challenge donation. Winners of the Punters’ Challenge could donate their winnings to the Irish Horse Welfare Trust and we donated a total of: €4,255 The purple team donated £2000 the first year with Brentford FC for each goal they scored during their winning EFL Championship run, including their play-off matches.
This was donated to The Brentford Community Trust which works with local areas to uplift the community through various initiatives. We also had the Hollywood Heroes – people who had made a difference in the community – who were sent to enjoy a Brentford Premier League match courtesy of Hollywoodbets. We had people ranging from those donating their time to the ladies’ squad to a gent who ran a marathon to raise stroke awareness for after having had a stroke himself.
