SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Arena Racing Company (ARC) has partnered with Racecourse Media Group (RMG) in creating shared channels to distribute UK racing internationally from January 2024.
The five-year deal will see content from British and Irish racecourses promoted and commercialised in a range of international tote (pari-mutuel) markets as a single service.
This new tote service will come under the banner of Great British & Irish racing (GBI Racing), which had served a similar function from 2010 to 2018.
Martin Stevenson, RMG CEO, commented: “I am delighted that British racing, and Irish racing via the tote service, will be sold and promoted as one package.
“This will drive further value for our racecourses and provide a better product for our customers across the world. I look forward to working with Brendan and his team in creating this leading international service.”
The CEO also thanked SIS for the work the group has done for RMG racecourses in this area over the last five years.
Meanwhile, a service for a range of fixed odds territories will broadcast coverage from British racecourses, as well as ARC’s Premier Greyhound Racing service. The broadcast services for both tote and fixed odds channels will be provided by ARC’s production business, Vermantia.
The alignment of the rights of RMG (34 British racecourse shareholders, including Jockey Club racecourses, and York and Goodwood) and ARC (16 British racecourses), plus other independent racecourses, such as Ascot, Chester and Newbury, aim to create ‘new efficiencies and synergies’.
Overall, this will maximise returns to the sport, whilst also enabling British and Irish racing to be effectively marketed and promoted to international audiences.
“This partnership will offer British racing a unified export service, streamlined for our various international partners,” concluded Brendan Parnell, ARC Managing Director of Media and International.
“Working with our colleagues at RMG, we look forward to offering and developing this efficient international platform to distribute and promote the sport around the world.”
