South African free-to-air channel SABC Sport and horse racing operator 4Racing have signed a multi-year horse racing broadcast deal that will make the sport accessible to millions of South Africans.
Under the deal, 4Racing will produce and broadcast a daily 30-minute horse racing talkshow called Racing Today on SABC Sport from Monday to Friday over a three-year period for 50 weeks a year. It will feature horse racing shows as well as the best of local and international races.
Racing Today will start airing from April 4 at 17.00, Monday to Friday, on the 24-hour SABC Sport channel on the SABC’s digital terrestrial TV service, on the Openview HD channel 124 and on the TelkomONE streaming service.
Gary Rathbone, head of SABC Sport, said: “Horse racing has long been a major part of the SABC Sport offering and, after a long absence from our platforms, it’s great to have the sport of kings back on air. Being able to feature South Africa’s best thoroughbreds and champion jockeys fighting it out in these iconic races on the annual calendar is something that will excite millions of South Africans who will now be able to access the best racing on offer live and free on the SABC.”
“This deal with SABC is a significant one for us at 4Racing and for all current and prospective punters and racegoers who love the sport,” added Stephen Watson, head of 4Racing TV and executive director of Discover Digital.
“We have been working with SABC over the last year and this partnership has already seen live coverage of major race days such as the World Sports Betting Cape Town Met and Summer Cup and the L’Ormarins Queens Plate, while we’ve also assisted Gold Circle to get one of the country’s biggest and most important race days, the Gold Cup, broadcast live on S3. So we are excited with this long-term partnership with the SABC, which will add more value to punters, sponsors and stakeholders.”
tagged in: 4Racing, Gary Rathbone, SABC Sport
