RMG could split up horseracing rights – report

Racecourse Media Group, which manages the media rights for 34 of the UK’s leading racecourses, will ask broadcasters which horseracing events they wish to bid for in the next cycle rather than restricting them to specific packages, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.

The group’s current domestic rights deal with commercial broadcaster Channel 4 will run until the end of 2016.

However, the report said that major events such as the Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot, the Derby and the Grand National could be sold off separately.

The Guardian newspaper said that a new free-to-air deal for the next rights cycle in the UK could be in place by this time next year.

Simon Bazalgette, the chief executive of the Jockey Club, which runs 15 leading racecourses in the UK, said: “Channel 4 have been a good partner. They have really promoted racing. Equally, I think racing is probably a more attractive sport than it was four years ago so I think there will be competition for it.”

He added: “I think there will be other people who will be interested. If (previous rights-holder) the BBC were only coming in for the crown jewels they’d have to convince us that was better for the sport than doing it week in, week out. But that’s possible, they may be able to do that.”