Channel 4 Withdraws Its Bid For Horse Racing Rights

Channel 4’s plans to create a digital horse racing channel were put on hold today after it withdrew its £250m bid for exclusive rights to cover the sport. The BBC and NTL have also reneged on their part of the deal due to “factionalism” within the racing industry.

Channel 4 was planning to launch an interactive racing channel before the end of this year. Its deal relied on the co-operation of Britain’s 12 largest racecourses as well as all the smaller venues (Channel 4 Doesn’t Rule Out Subsidiary Flotation). The “Super 12”, which make up the UK’s leading venues, agreed to negotiate a collective TV deal in December last year and accepted Channel 4’s £250 bid for the rights in February this year.

The smaller courses, however, represented by the Racecourse Association, could not agree on the terms of a collective deal and their indecision finally lead C4 and Premium TV, the subsidiary of NTL, to withdraw today.

David Brook, C4’s director of strategy and development, said: “We remain convinced that a multimedia rights solution involving all UK racecourses is in the long-term interest of everyone involved in the sport. Unfortunately, the factionalism that seems endemic in some parts of the industry has made it impossible to secure the necessary involvement of the UK’s remaining 47 courses.”

He did not rule out the possibility of a future deal, however. “Although the current deal is dead, if racing can regroup and come back to us with a united and coherent position then Channel 4 and Premium TV would still hope to be involved in a future deal for television and online horse racing rights,” he said.

Channel 4: 020 7396 4444