Pay-television channel At The Races, which is set to rebrand as Sky Sports Racing, has struck a three-year extension to its rights deal in the UK and Ireland for US horseracing showpiece the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
At The Races will broadcast the 2018 World Championships exclusively live in the UK and Ireland. Sky Sports Racing will then broadcast the 2019 and 2020 events exclusively live following the launch of the new HD, dedicated racing channel, as the successor to ATR, in January.
Under the new partnership, ATR/Sky Sports Racing will have exclusive UK and Ireland television broadcast rights to all races from the two-day Championships and will commit significant promotion and coverage to the event and to the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series across their digital and social media assets, including hosting another dedicated microsite on attheraces.com.
The 2018 Breeders’ Cup World Championships will feature 14 races offering more than $30m (€24.8m) in prize money and awards. The event will be staged this year at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky on November 2-3.
Craig Fravel, president and chief executive of Breeders’ Cup Limited, said: “ATR has provided excellent coverage of the Breeders’ Cup for many years and we are very pleased to extend our partnership.
“The UK and Ireland are important markets for us particularly with our recent addition of four Royal Ascot races to the ‘Win and You’re In’ Challenge Series, so we are excited about the opportunities ahead with Sky Sports and Sky Sports Racing.”