Horseracing

Martin Stevenson, CEO of the Racecourse Media Group (RMG), has called on horse racing stakeholders to maintain lobbying efforts over the 2005 Gambling Act review, as reported by the Racing Post.  In particular, Stevenson has noted that the potential consequences of the overhaul of the UK’s gambling legislation could extend beyond the betting industry to impact horse racing – the …

Racecourse Media Group (RMG) has initiated an executive search to replace Chairman Roger Lewis, who will resign from duties leading its board at the end of the year.  A former BBC and ITV executive, Lewis has served on the RMG board since 2012 and was appointed chairman in 2019, leading the media rights organisation through the unprecedented challenges of the …

Sports Information Services (SIS), has extended its partnership with Codere to distribute its 24/7 Live Racing Channels to the operator’s Argentine customer base. The multi-channel betting supplier’s existing deal with Codere has provided its racing content to the online operations in Spain and Mexico. Codere’s Argentine online customers will now also have access to SIS’s UK and Irish horse racing, …

Spotlight Sports Group (SSG) and Betfair have extended and expanded their existing partnership centred around the provision of horse racing video content.  Covering multiple events throughout 2022, including the upcoming Cheltenham Festival, Grand National and July’s Royal Ascot, the agreement will see SSG supply Betfair with its Racing Post Live programme.  Included in this offering are live reactions from racing …

UK racing has formed ‘a cross-industry working party’ that will establish an action plan that aims to breed a culture of respect across all components of the sport. The directive was originally announced last December, as racing stakeholders issued a joint-statement “regarding the conduct of those who work in the sport, and a commitment to take wide-ranging action to offer …

Playtech and the Jockey Club have entered into a new strategic partnership, centred around the development of cross-product content.  The five-year deal will see Playtech produce content based on the Jockey Club’s network of racecourses and fixtures, with the firm having secured the rights to develop the features across its casino, live casino, poker, virtual sports and bingo verticals.  Brokered …

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has revealed its 2021 year-end figures which reported an on-course betting bookmaker turnover of €12.9m, showing an increase of 67.5% on the previous year. Results suggest that the industry has ‘bounced back from a difficult 2020’, with most figures far ahead of both the previous 12 months and the pre-pandemic figures of 2019. Suzanne Eade, CEO …

Betfair, a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment, has named top jockey Bryony Frost as an ambassador of the betting brand. The collaboration sees Frost share her views on racing and her weekly rides, including 12-time champion trainer, Paul Nicholls, two-time champion jockey, Ryan Moore, and TV pundits such as Kate Tracey, Kevin Blake and Vanessa Ryle. Laura-Jane O’Shea, Chief Executive Officer …

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has urged all stakeholders to participate in its online questionnaire to help map the environmental activity of UK racing. The questionnaire forms part of UK racing’s CSR commitment, in which the governing bodies of the BHA, The Horsemen’s Group, Racing Foundation and Racecourse Association (RCA) have pledged to progress the sport’s environmental sustainability. Last year, …

The total prize fund for this year’s Randox Grand National will return to £1 million for the first time since the pre-pandemic period, as reported by the Racing Post. The horse racing and betting news outlet was informed by Aintree racecourse on Wednesday that not only will the total value of the 9 April race return to pre-COVID levels, but …