Trade ponders end of Man Group's Booker Prize sponsorship

Man Group, which has sponsored the Booker Prize since 2002 - as well as sponsoring its International Prize from its beginning in 2005 - is to end its association with the prizes at the end of 2019. Trade figures have suggested that the change of sponsor "may open the possibility of rethinking the Booker Prize rules", which controversially opened eligibility for the prize to US authors in 2014.

The Booker Prize Foundation has said its trustees are "in discussion with a new sponsor and are confident that the new funding will be in place for 2020." In the meantime the two prizes will run as usual this year.

Man Group said it had donated £25m in support of literature through the prizes and the charitable activities of the Foundation since 2002. C.e.o. Luke Ellis said: "Following a careful review of our funding initiatives, we have taken the decision to focus our resources on our ‘Paving the Way’ diversity and inclusion campaign, as well as activities led by the Man Charitable Trust, which supports educational causes that promote literacy and numeracy. This was a natural point to re-evaluate our focus areas as our sponsorship agreement comes to an end."

Helena Kennedy, chair of the Booker Prize Foundation, said Man Group had been "an excellent and very generous sponsor for nearly 18 years", adding: "However, all good things must come to an end and we look forward to taking the prizes into the next phase with our new supporter."

The Sunday Times linked Man Group's withdrawal to criticism of the company's role as sponsor from novelist Sebastian Faulks. However Pan Macmillan publisher Jeremy Trevathan doubted that was the case, saying: "They've had criticism from individuals, and indeed informal pressure groups, for years and they seem to have been big enough to have absorbed that and to have continually looked to the positives of what they can do with their resources. Nothing they've ever done suggests they would be as petty as to drop the Booker because of some comments from individuals. I suspect this has been planned for a while. The reasons given sound totally logical. And, after all, 18 years is a long time! We should acknowledge and respect their past support and wish them well in their new initiatives towards diversity, inclusion, literacy and numeracy, which will no doubt have a significant impact on our society."

But, he added: "This does, inadvertently I'm sure, open the possibility of rethinking the Booker Prize rules. A new sponsor will no doubt be keen to have some sort of moment of maximum PR and I can't imagine anything that would create more positive column inches than a rethink now... both here and around the world."

Curtis Brown's Jonny Geller said: "I’m not hugely surprised that Man Booker has called time on its sponsorship of the prize as it had come under criticism in recent years for changing its entry criteria and possibly realised that many of the shortlists were not as commercially impactful as in former years. Corporate sponsorship for a truly artistic prize is always complicated as it is not really philanthropy in its truest sense or marketing either. I did not agree with opening out the entry to American writers and feel the choice of judges has been erratic recently. I am grateful to Man Booker for what it has done in promoting great fiction.

"I hope the next sponsor is a dynamic partner who helps promote great British writing and provides a global stage for this country’s incredible literary culture."

Clare Alexander of Aitken Alexander warned: "The identification of the prize so closely with the original sole sponsor, Booker, might be an obstacle to finding a single entity to share sponsorship with them.  The Women’s Prize has rather brilliantly spread sponsorship more widely, but was helped by the fact that Baileys was never such a dominant presence."

She added: "This may be a moment for the prize to review its status generally and I’d like to think that, in seeking a new sponsor or sponsors, this might give the prize an impetus to review its rules as well. There is no question, from the point of view of sales, that the prize has much more impact when it goes to a British or Commonwealth winner, and this continues to be the case even since the prize has been open to Americans - including in the American market. As I hope they’ll take note, Milkman rather proves the point. Any new or existing sponsor will surely want the prize to have a clear and singular identity, and to have the maximum possible impact."

Meanwhile Alessandro Gallenzi of Alma Books called the sponsorship withdrawal "a further blow to the aspirations of writers and the expectations of agents, publishers and booksellers", adding: "I hope a new sponsor will emerge soon, so that the Booker Foundation can continue the good work it has carried out over the years, but it won't be easy in these turbulent times."

The Man Booker prize, worth £50,000 to the winner, celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with a number of initiatives, including the Golden Man Booker. However it has also faced ongoing controversy over the rule change which opened the award to US authors.

The 2018 winner was Anna Burns' Milkman (Faber). The 2018 Man Booker International winner was Olga Tokarczuk's Flights (Fitzcarraldo), translated by Jennifer Croft.