UK pay-television broadcaster Sky will launch a dedicated horse racing channel through an agreement that will result in the rebranding of pay-television channel At The Races.
Sky Sports Racing will replace At The Races and will be available to every Sky customer in the UK and Ireland at no extra cost. It will be available in HD for the first time and produced from Sky’s studios in west London, bringing live racing from over 650 UK fixtures as well as exclusive international race meetings.
Ahead of the launch, which is currently scheduled for on or before January 1, a 10-year deal with Chester Race Company has been signed to bring live racing from the Chester and Bangor-on-Dee racecourses to Sky Sports Racing from March 2019.
Regularly attracting crowds of up to 30,000 throughout its summer season, Chester also hosts the Boodles May Festival which saw subsequent winners of the Derby, Oaks, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe all racing last year.
Sky and Arena Racing Company are joint venture partners in At The Races which first launched in 2000.
At The Races chief executive Matthew Imi said: “There is no better home for our new channel production facility than Sky Sports’ studios which are the best in the business and we believe Sky Sports Racing is set to be a game changer for racing. Later this year we look forward to presenting our plans in more detail to the major constituents in our sport and racing fans more generally.”
Sky Sports Racing, the 11th dedicated sports channel, will be available on television and on mobile through Sky Go for the first time.
It joins the dedicated sports channels that were launched last summer – Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports F1, Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Cricket – alongside Action and Arena, Main Event, Sky Sports News and Sky Sports Mix.