Arena Racing and Racecourse Media Group have created a joint venture designed to handle all pre-race license data for Racing Enterprise Limited.
Arena Racing and Leisure Group have joined forced with the Racecourse Media Group (RMG) in a joint venture that will see them license pre-race data on competing horses.
The successful joint venture will see the two companies create an offshoot called the Racecourse Data Company (RDC), which will begin life by managing the new five-year contract that sees them handling all pre-race data for Racing Enterprise Limited.
Arena Racing is the owner, and operator, of 15 British racecourses that account for 39% of all British racing fixtures, as well as owning a wide range of hotels on these properties. The RMG is the company responsible for media rights management businesses at most of the common racecourses through Britain. The new ventures will involve 57 UK racecourses, with nine independent racetracks acting as shareholders alongside the chosen few at Arena Racing and RMG.
The RMG website clearly states that all profits from their enterprise goes back into the pockets of the racecourses, and there will be little change with the new JV after Racing Enterprises Limited Chairman, Chris McFadden, promised that all income from licensing the data will be ploughed back into the promotion of horse racing.
In a joint statement, RMG chief executive Richard Fitzgerald and Arena managing director Tony Kelly said: “The overarching aims are to protect official partners, control integrity, lower the risk of piracy and enhance the value of PRD for the industry,” before continuing. “It also provides customers with a long-term deal for this significant piece of data.”
The JV has also been endorsed by the British Horseracing Authority with CEO Paul Bittar saying that the joint venture was: “another example of the progress the industry can make when we work towards common goals.”
