I sincerely hope not. It would be against the current trend!
But what is it that’s really going on here? It seems to me that Ascot holds such a high opinion of itself as a product that it is prepared to go it alone, believing it can extract more money from various forms of media that way. Its ultimate goal may not to be with either RUK or ATR but to be AscotTV. This would weaken the specialist broadcasters, cost us consumers and set a dangerous precedent. It would be like Man Utd or whoever negotiating a separate rights deal. Premier League rules prevent this, however, there is nothing to stop it in racing as far as I’m aware.
Rather than getting into a bidding war for the pay TV rights in March 2019, ATR and RUK should tell Ascot it is overvaluing itself, that strength lies in the collective, and refuse to pay.