Racing New South Wales, horse racing’s governing body in the Australian state, has told country and provincial racing associations to sell their next cycle of media rights to Australian pay-television horse racing channel TVN, according to the Herald newspaper.
The rights are currently held by rival pay-television broadcaster Sky Racing, in deals due to expire in December. The Herald said that Racing New South Wales wanted to “unify” horse racing rights on TVN. The broadcaster already has deals to provide coverage from racetracks in Sydney and Victoria.
Under the current deals, TVN is allowed to broadcast two of Sky Racing’s meetings per day. In exchange, TVN provides coverage from Sydney and Victoria for Sky’s ‘poker machine’ coverage, which also includes harness and greyhound meetings.
“The new deal will be good for the industry, and won’t be harmful for anyone,” Racing New South Wales chairman John Messara said.