Ten signs deal with Sky Racing to expand horse racing coverage
In the lead up to the Melbourne Cup, Ten has signed a deal with Tabcorp’s racing broadcaster, Sky Racing, which enables the network to air international events.
The deal includes major races in Great Britain and France.
Ten won the rights to the Melbourne Cup last year, taking them off Seven which had held them since 2002. Ten paid $100m for five-years of rights. Seven still owns the rights to other carnivals and shares joint venture Racing.com with Racing Victoria.
The schedule will include The Gordon Stakes, the Ebor Handicap and the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
The featured races, which will air on Ten Bold on Saturday nights, will be:
- Coral Eclipse Meeting, Sandown Park, UK
- July Cup Meeting, Newmarket, UK
- Glorious Goodwood, Goodwood, UK
- Ebor Festival, York, UK
- Cambridgeshire Meeting, Newmarket, UK
- ARC Meeting, Longchamp, France
- British Champions Day, Ascot, UK
Ten’s head of sport, Matt White, said the additional races would allow the network to give viewers more value in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup.
“This is great news for fans of international racing to have live free-to-air coverage, and an exciting time at Ten Sport as we expand our horse racing portfolio,” said White.
“International horses that are aiming for a start in the Lexus Melbourne Cup will be on the world stage, so our viewers can follow the complete story as we build to ‘the race that stops a nation’.”
After losing the Big Bash League cricket rights in 2018, Ten has put a lot of focus on its sport offering for 2019. The network has denied it overpaid for the Melbourne Cup, and drawn focus to the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which it has digital rights to and broadcast rights to certain matches, including all Wallabies games, The Rugby Championships, including the Bledisloe Cup, the Supercars and the Australian MotoGP.
The network has also made appointments to its sales team to further support its investment in sport, including a Sydney sports sales manager.
Coverage of the Coral Eclipse Meeting at Sandown Park began on 10 Bold Saturday, 6 July at 10:30pm AEST.
