RMG secures £110m in media & data rights payments in 2018

Racecourse Media Group (RMG), the media rights manager and distributor for 37 UK/IRE racetracks has generated 2108 media-data rights payments of £109.7 million.

The figure represents an 18% increase on 2017 results, with RMG governance confident of future prospects having absorbed the content of all 26 Irish racecourses plus Chelmsford City in 2019, and rebranding Racing UK to Racing TV.

Roger Lewis,  Chairman of RMG, said: “Racecourse Media Group has enjoyed another productive year, not only by generating record financial results for our shareholder racecourses, but also by forging many exciting new partnerships and relationships.

“We have completed the first full year of our new LBO contract with SIS, which replaced Turf TV. The new arrangement has led to a closer collaboration between our racecourses and the gaming sector.”

In its update, RMG details that £110 million payments, were derived from, seven verticals;

In the update, Roger Lewis confirms that in 2019, RMG will look to broaden its international network, distributing media rights for UK and IRE races at a global scale.

“This new content set is included in Racing TV’s streaming service for online bookmakers in the UK and Ireland, and also forms part of our international TV sales, which distributes to direct-to-home broadcasters worldwide” – Lewis adds

“We also launched Racing TV International, our global betting TV channel, replacing GBI Racing, which serves betting operators in more than 40 countries across the globe”.

In 2019, the RMG has moved to bolster its governance capacity, in light of preparing for a number of regulatory challenges with regards to FOBT legislations and its impact on UK LBO estates.

Seeking better coordination and knowledge of the UK betting sector, this April, RMG confirmed Jim Mullen, the former CEO of Ladbrokes Coral, and Britt Boeskov of Kindred Plc, as independent non-executive directors to its Board. 

“There is also political and regulatory uncertainty, not only in our country but across our global territories. However, we feel together, we are well placed to meet these challenges and create the best outcome for our racecourses.”

“RMG is actively considering a wide range of new opportunities to significantly benefit all of our shareholder racecourses over the coming years. This work is firmly in hand.”