Seven West Media in negotiations for additional racing channel
Seven West Media is in negotiations for a second free to air horse racing channel which will specialise in coverage of NSW and Queensland sports races, the Australian Financial Review has reported.
The network currently runs Victorian and South Australian races through Racing.com – a new free to air television channel devoted to daily horse races.
It has been reported Seven West Media is now speaking with racing authorities and Tabcorp’s Sky Racing channel – which currently holds broadcasting rights in NSW and Queensland – to lock in a deal.
The AFR said should the deal go ahead, Seven’s new channel will feature advertising for Tabcorp’s TAB brand. Currently, racing.com carries advertising for Tabcorp’s rivals, Sportsbet, CrownBet and Bet365.
An agreement on the deal should be met by the end of the month, with the new channel expected to launch in time for the NSW races in March.
With the addition of a new free to air channel for horse racing, Seven could broadcast horse races across three channels at one time. Seven currently holds the rights to main events such as The Melbourne Cup.
Seven had not responded to Mumbrella’s request for comment at the time of publishing.
