Sky Sports Racing wins Ascot broadcast rights

Ascot’s 25 annual race fixtures will be broadcast on Sky Sports Racing from March 2019, the channel announced today.

At The Races will manage UK streaming and betting rights for the racecourse as part of the agreement which will run until at least 2021.

Ascot joins Sky Sports Racing’s global rights portfolio, which already includes the Boodles Chester May Festival, William Hill St Leger, Coral Welsh Grand National as well as the Breeders’ Cup, US Triple Crown, Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Ascot CCO Juliet Slot said: “We’re really pleased to be partnering with Sky Sports Racing.

“We’ve chosen them because of the significant investment and commitment to the sport that they have demonstrated, the brand alignment and cross promotional opportunities that come with the major sports that Sky covers, and the fact that Sky Sports Racing is available in more than 14 million homes.”

Sky’s dedicated horseracing channel, At The Races, will be rebranded to Sky Sports Racing for the start of 2019 and will bring customers live racing from more than 650 fixtures.

Ascot meetings were previously broadcast on Sky Sports Racing’s biggest competitor channel, Racing UK.

At The Races CEO, Matthew Imi, said: “Sky Sports Racing is an important development for our sport which can benefit the whole industry.

“For the first time, racing will be positioned and heavily cross-promoted shoulder to shoulder with the other key domestic and global sporting events Sky Sports showcases across its ten other channels,” he added.