Ladbrokes secure New Media Deal with The Racing Partnership

Ladbrokes is one of the oldest bookmakers in the UK having been founded way back in 1886. Over the past 130 years, the company has established itself as one of the biggest and most respected names in the industry. Ladbrokes is probably most well-known for its excellent sports betting platform but the company also boast a fantastic online casino, offering an excellent suite of casino games, slots, poker, lotto and bingo. The company is known as one of the world’s leading bookmakers for horse racing betting and has recently signed a media rights agreement with The Racing Partnership which will only further bolster that reputation.

More Live Horse Racing Coverage

The Ladbrokes Coral Group has announced its agreed a new media rights deal with The Racing Partnership (TRP). Under the agreement customers across Ladbroke Coral’s 3,820 betting shops in the UK and Ireland will be to enjoy more live horse racing coverage. The Racing Partnership is a joint venture between Arena Racing Company (ARC), the UK’s largest racecourse owner and operator, and seven independent UK racecourses. Ladbrokes betting shops will now have access to live coverage of horse racing from ARC’s 15 race-courses and seven independent venues. This includes racing from venues around the globe such as South Africa National Racing events.

Announcing the new partnership Ladbrokes Coral Chief Executive Jim Mullen outlined the importance of horse racing to Ladbrokes and how the new agreement will benefit both the company and its customers. “Horseracing is part of our heritage and, despite the vast choice of sports to bet on in the modern era, it remains a core product for our business, so it is a positive development that once again all our customers, in shops and online, can enjoy a full range of horse racing action”.

The Chief Executive of ARC was similarly upbeat about the partnership underlining how the new agreement would be beneficial to both parties. “We are delighted to have agreed on this deal with Ladbrokes Coral; it is a testament to the symbiotic nature of racing and betting that we have been able to agree on a deal based on sound commercial principles for both parties.”

An Important Agreement

Before the agreement with The Racing Partnership, which came into effect immediately, Ladbrokes were trailing the competition when it came to providing live racing coverage. Ladbrokes were unable to provide coverage from 22 race-courses after it had initially refused to pay the Racing Partnership for the rights to broadcast racing from their venues. Before the dispute was settled Ladbrokes were showing an estimated 23% fewer racing fixtures than their rivals William Hill and Paddy Power according to broker Barclays. Barclays also predicted that by 2018 around 43% of horse races and 70% of greyhound races would not be shown at Ladbrokes or Coral outlets. Barclays said: “The longer that LCL does have content parity with peers, the greater the risk customers move allegiance to rivals”. It was therefore imperative that the UK company breached the impasse with the ARC and reached an agreement to secure the future of horse race betting at Ladbrokes.