Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) is delighted to announce all of its 15 racecourses will be fully equipped with Wi-Fi by the end of summer 2018.
The Wi-Fi solution will be powered by Sky Wi-Fi, which connects millions of people to the UK’s largest public Wi-Fi network.
Sky is the leading provider of entertainment and communications services which is built on over 25 years of market transformation and innovation. A first-class Wi-Fi experience will be available across the racecourses for all customers, racecourse staff and racing professionals. This means that everyone can use it, from customers in the grandstands, paddocks, bars and restaurants, through to owners, trainers, jockeys and racing staff. There will be separate designated Wi-Fi ac
cess available for members of the media, racecourse staff and VIP guests, along with accessibility for corporate events held on non-race days.
Martin Cruddace, Chief Executive of ARC, said: “At what is an exciting time for ARC we are really pleased to be working with Sky Business to bring industry-leading Wi-Fi to all of our racecourses. This will have a huge impact on the customer experience, as well as supporting the key investments, including Britbet, racing’s own pool betting operation which launches in July.”
David Rey, Managing Director of Sky Business said: “We are delighted to be working with ARC by delivering our expertise in providing high quality, high density public Wi-Fi across all of their racecourses. This tailored and fully managed solution, provides a branded and superfast Wi-Fi service to all those who visit and work in the racecourses. It also gives valuable customer insight to help target visitors with relevant communications and to inform and enhance the experience of everyone who visits.”
For further information please contact:
Susannah Gill
Director of External Affairs
Arena Racing Company
Office: 020 7802 5120
Mobile: 07751 870 929
Email: [email protected]
Emma Currin
Communications Manager
Sky Business
Office: 0207 032 3340
Mobile: 07779 981 392
Email: [email protected]
About SKY:
Sky Business is the business-to-business division of Sky, Europe’s leading entertainment and communications company. Sky Business provides commercial customers in the UK and Ireland with comprehensive television and communication services across a wide variety of businesses. These include pubs, sports clubs, bookmakers, hotels, offices, gyms, shops, care homes, golf clubs and oil rigs.
About ARC:
Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) is the largest racecourse operator in the UK. In 2018 ARC Group racecourses will host 522 fixtures with 1.2 million people attending racing at one of ARC’s racecourses each year.
The ARC group is made up of the following sixteen racecourses: Bath, Brighton, Chepstow, Doncaster, Ffos Las, Fontwell Park, Great Yarmouth, Hereford, Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Royal Windsor, Sedgefield, Southwell, Uttoxeter, Wolverhampton and Worcester.
ARC runs four of the six all-weather racecourses in the UK offering three different types of surface for horses to run on: Polytrack at Lingfield Park, fibresand at Southwell Racecourse and tapeta at Newcastle and Wolverhampton Racecourses – the only tapeta racing surfaces in Europe.
In 2013 ARC pioneered the All-Weather Championships which see horses compete throughout the winter for the chance of qualifying for a £1 million Finals Day on Good Friday at Lingfield Park. This initiative is helping raise the profile and prestige of all-weather racing in Great Britain.
ARC hosts racing at all levels of the sport from Class 7 through to Group 1s. Doncaster Racecourse is home to the world’s oldest Classic, the St Leger, run each year in September as part of the four-day St Leger Festival. Feature jumps races include the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle Racecourse, the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow Racecourse and Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter Racecourse.
As well as racing, ARC also operates a hotel at Wolverhampton Racecourse, a hotel, spa resort and golf course at Lingfield Park and The Border Minstrel public house at Newcastle Racecourse in the grounds of Gosforth Park. A new hotel at Doncaster Racecourse is under construction and will open in the summer of 2018.
ARC is a significant shareholder in the horseracing TV channel At The Races which is broadcast on the Sky platform to c.14 million homes, and a JV partner with Racing UK in GBI Racing which sells UK and Irish Racing to betting shop operators around the world.
ARC plays a pivotal role in British Racing. It is a shareholder in British Champions Series and Racecourse Data Company; a signatory to a British Horseracing Authority’s and Horsemen’s Group Prize Money Agreement; and on the boards of the Racecourse Association (“RCA”), Great British Racing (“GBR”) and British Champion Series (“BCS”).
In 2015 ARC set up The Racing Partnership. This limited company represents the media rights of the 15 ARC owned-racecourses and the 7 independent racecourses Fakenham, Ffos Las, Hexham, Newton Abbot, Plumpton, Ripon and Towcester.
In addition to racecourses ARC owns Newcastle and Sunderland Greyhound Stadia and looks after the media interests of the Greyhound Media Group (“GMG”).
ARC employs 650 permanent staff and engages with 3,500 casual staff for racing and events across its racecourses. Further information about ARC can be found at www.arenaracingcompany.co.uk.
