British TV company Channel 4 has recently signed a three year deal with Racing UK, to show live terrestrial racing. The channel will take advantage of cell phone gambling technology in order to lift off the shows, and will combine Television and Mobile technology as complementary enhancers to the program.
This is the first time Racing UK is involved in television and cell phone gambling, even though it owns 30 of Britain's top tracks. The move is expected to regain the racing popularity, which has decline in recent years in favor of sports betting.
The partnership is estimated as being worth a minimum of £12m, including the developing market revenue that is expected to be gained from interactive cell phone gambling. The main sponsor for the deal is the Tote, which has signed a three year sponsoring deal with channel 4 in the sum of £5.5m.
Cell phone gambling is expected to be the main lifting factor to help horse racing popularity, after recent attempts to run bets solely through TV horse racing failed. If this betting project will work, channel 4 is expected to try other betting forms through cell phone gambling, including casino betting types.
According to Simon Bazalgette, executive chairman of Racing UK, "Racing needed to take a radical new approach in order to maintain the level of terrestrial exposure. By choosing to enter exclusive negotiations with Channel 4, we believe we have the best opportunity for several years to achieve a commercially sustainable partnership across the whole sport."
Nancy Parker - News Editor