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Five Irish Tracks Reject Media Rights Deal

For the first time in history, Irish racing looks set to have two separate providers of pictures after five racecourses rejected a media rights deal on Tuesday.

At a groundbreaking general meeting of the Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR) held at the Keadeen Hotel in Newbridge, the five members of the United Irish Racecourses (UIR) voted against the five-year deal worth €47 million.

That means that the five tracks–Kilbeggan, Limerick, Roscommon, Sligo and Thurles–are now free to negotiate their own separate deal, presumably with Arena Racing Company, which could pave the way for Irish racing to return to Sky Sports Racing in 2024.

The current deal, which is due to expire at the end of this year, is with Sports Information Services [SIS] and Racecourse Media Group, which sees all Irish racing broadcast on RTV.

It is understood that UIR received “an unsolicited offer” of €100,000 per fixture from Arc last year, but the five tracks now have to request HRI's media rights committee to negotiate another contract for them

The new deal with SIS and RMG was given “preferred bidder” status last year by the Media Rights Committee, which consists of five executives from AIR and Horse Racing Ireland.

However, the five tracks expressed their dissatisfaction with the deal back in January and formed UIR. The discontent stems from how the media rights are distributed by HRI and how the funding model favours the bigger tracks.

Conor O'Neill, chairman of HRI's media rights committee, focused on the positives of the deal on Tuesday.

He said, “It's a fantastic deal and I'm delighted for the 21 racecourses who have signed up to secure it today. I would like to thank the board of AIR and our CEO Paul Hensey for their hard work and support. I would also like to especially thank our former CEO Paddy Walsh who has worked tirelessly on achieving the best possible deal for our members and the HRI media rights committee whose commitment has been extraordinary throughout the entire process.”

O'Neill added, “Although it's disappointing that it was not approved by all, today is a very positive day for the future of Irish racing, let's not take away from that. I look forward to continuing our partnership with SIS and RMG for the overwhelming majority of Irish racecourses, subject to the approval by the HRI board on Friday.”

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RMG Renews Media Rights Agreement With British Courses

Racecourse Media Group (RMG) has agreed to five-year licence extensions for audio-visual and data rights for its British racecourses, the company announced on Thursday. A total of 35 UK racecourses have their LBO rights renewed, and 33 UK racecourses were renewed for all other aspects of their media rights, including streaming (watch & bet), direct to home (DTH), terrestrial TV and international betting and non-betting through Dec. 31, 2028.

Owned in its entirety by racecourse shareholders, RMG pays 100% of operating profit back to racecourses, and as a result, it is the biggest single funder of British horseracing. In RMG's portfolio are events like the Randox Grand National Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Cazoo Derby Festival, Qatar Sussex S. and the Juddmonte International S., all of which will remain there until at least 2029. In addition, RMG added all 26 Irish racecourses to its coverage in 2019, which are brodcast live on RMG's channel, Racing TV. For a full list of courses in RMG's portfolio, please visit www.racecoursemediagroup.com.

Roger Lewis, Chairman of RMG, said, “This is a pivotal moment for British racing. The RMG Racecourses, with a unity of purpose, have created business clarity and confidence for years to come. The RMG Board pays particular tribute to the outstanding leadership of the RMG CEO, Martin Stevenson, who together with his great team of RMG executives navigated this complex and detailed process with rigour, patience and clear focus.”

Added Martin Stevenson, CEO of RMG, “It is a matter of great pride that racecourses have placed their rights in RMG's hands again. RMG has a superb team, who, from the production to the commercial offices, are committed to ensuring first-class output and long-term sustainable growth for our racecourses.

“This will be achieved by continuing to create innovative and different ways of bringing the sport to life and showcasing it to our broad range of audiences. This is also made possible by our much-valued media, technical, broadcast, commercial and bookmaking partners, and, of course, the owners, trainers, breeders, jockeys and stable staff. We look forward to continuing to work with Newbury on the remaining period of their term until 2024 and we wish them well thereafter.”

Nevin Truesdale, Chief Executive of The Jockey Club, which runs 15 UK racecourses, said, “RMG has consistently delivered significant value from media and data rights over a 17-year period and unlocked revenue streams in the betting space far more than any other sport. More recently, the income RMG has delivered to all its shareholder racecourses has been vital through the very difficult pandemic period without spectators and other on-course revenues.”

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Newbury Racecourse to Move to Sky Sports Racing

Newbury Racecourse will be broadcast on Sky Sports Racing beginning in 2024 after a five-year deal was announced on Wednesday. The course's media rights will move to The Racing Partnership and Sky Sports Racing on Apr. 1, 2023, with the broadcast coverage of the course's cards moving from Racing TV to Sky Sports on Jan. 1, 2024. Some of the course's race meetings include the Dubai Duty Free Spring Trials, the G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge Day card, the Ladbrokes Winter Carnival and the G1 Challow Hurdle.

Julian Thick, Chief Executive of Newbury Racecourse, said, “We are delighted to announce this strategic partnership with TRP and Sky Sports Racing. Sky Sports Racing offers a very attractive platform for us with its extensive reach to 14 million homes, a particularly strong supporting digital footprint with both Attheraces.com and associated channels as well as the brand alignment and cross promotional opportunities that come with being part of the larger Sky family. We would like to thank our current rights holders, RMG, who have done and continue to do an excellent job for Newbury and have been a valued partner of ours since 2004.”

Added Matthew Imi, Chief Executive, Sky Sports Racing, “Everyone at Sky Sports Racing is delighted at the prospect of a partnership with Newbury Racecourse. We regard it as a great privilege to be working with one of our sport's most important and progressive participants and look forward to being able to attract significant audiences to their content through our domestic and international broadcast and digital platforms.

“Working closely with our wagering partners and maximising the exposure Sky Sports can bring to Newbury's fixtures, events and high-quality brand we believe this will translate into significant long-term opportunities for them on many different levels.”

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