Sky Racing channels next to hit streamers?
Tabcorp is reportedly looking to place its Sky Racing channels on Stan Sports and Kayo, after striking a six-year Melbourne Cup deal with Nine earlier this year.
The AFR reports the wagering company is in talks with both Foxtel and Nine regarding the move.
Foxtel’s legacy subscription customers already have access to three Sky Racing channels, and Tabcorp will be sub-licensing the Melbourne Cup to Nine until at least 2029, so it makes sense that the betting company would strike streaming deals with both parties.
The deal(s) may take a while to get over the line, if the elongated Melbourne Cup rights race is anything to go by.
Previous broadcast rights holder Ten pulled out in June, citing a litany of “commercial constraints” put on the deal by Tabcorp, including half of all wagering advertisements, the use of its own Sky Racing commentators and production team for the broadcast, and heavy integration of TAB odds into the free-to-air broadcast.
Seven followed suit in September, with Seven CEO James Warburton shooting an angry email to the CEOs of Tabcorp and VRC voicing his displeasure in the aforementioned “constraints”.
That same month, Nine reportedly offered $5 million a year for the rights — a quarter of what Ten was paying — and given the deal wasn’t finalised until February, it’s likely there was a lot of toing and froing before a figure was landed upon.
Nine and Foxtel declined to comment on the reports. Mumbrella has also reached out to Stan and Tabcorp.
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