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itv is in it’s final year of the deal to broadcast horse racing and negotiations have stalled.
itv has been in discussions over continuing the coverage since early last year but still no deal has been agreed and some bookmakers are voicing concerns saying that even though rtv and SSR do a good job they don’t bring in the punter numbers that itv does.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/horseracing/10714493/itv-racing-contract-dispute-ed-chamberlin/
The article does not state what the issue is but an article published last year in a few newspapers claimed it was Ascot who were stalling the deal and were not happy.
What Does Ascot want? They have already switched from RUK to ATR and regulary receive top slot on ITV, are they just being greedy?
The 2017 agreement was handled solely by RMG this time the deal has to be ratified by RMG, ARC and Ascot.
From what I have read itv have proposed £30m-£40m but Ascot has not agree this yet, also there is a new issue itv want Champions League football back and they want Champions League football over anything else which means with only a limited pot horse racing could lose out if itv lose patience with the three parties and decide bidding more for the Champions League is in their interests.
Ascot were originally given a deadline of the end of August last year to agree to a proposal by itv it appears Ascot issue is under the new deal proposed by itv they would in effect received a pay cut.
itv were said to be frustrated last August so goodness knows how frustrated they must be now and might just think sod it let’s pay more for Champions League.
Last August ARC were 95% happy with the itv proposal but were concerned about their partners Ascot which is why they were not 100% in favour.
Another issue is that under the current tv deal ARC does not receive a rights fee from itv as it was a deal negotiated with RMG under the new deal ARC would have to be paid a rights fee and possibly Ascot too or depending on the current deal Ascot may have been part of the RMG fee as it was partnered with them at that time.
I believe that ITV have missed out on the champions league again,just as well as with less money in the kitty they may have told racing to get stuffed.
That doesn’t mean that ITV are out of the running though. They are believed to be in negotiations to buy a package from BT.
With Champions League rights the problem for itv is BT Sport is showing all the games at the same time and has shown itself to provide the coverage that they want, itv on the other hand is not going to put games on all it’s channels at the same time it would drive people to other channels and away from itv if they don’t like football, there is a reason itv3 show Midsomer Murders when itv has a football match on.
itv want Liverpool matches and BT are not going to give away the rights to them, what possibly could BT sell to itv that itv would want to put on it’s flagship channel at primetime other than Liverpool or Man Utd?
There’s a lot of pros and cons to weigh up but that’s what they pay their negotiators, rights experts & lawyers to do. If there’s a deal to be done, they will find it.
Still itv and the racing partners cannot come to a deal.
The two sticking points in the itv contract saga have been revealed.
Firstly the racecourses want itv to put all the “crown jewels” on itv and not itv4, itv have said they cannot guarantee any meeting including Cheltenham or Ascot will go on itv, especially during a world cup year.
Secondly itv want all the digital rights to the racecourses.
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