Officials seal Sky TV deal

RACING Queensland and Sky Racing have announced a new 10-year deal for broadcasting of the state’s three racing codes.

The confirmation comes after the Brisbane Racing Club completed a 10-year deal with Sky in May.

Following the separate deal done by the BRC, Racing Queensland continued to negotiate on behalf of other thoroughbred clubs and the greyhound and harness codes.

The June 30 deadline passed, as did a two-week extension, but the two parties have finally come to terms 13 months after talks began.

The finer details of the agreement are yet to be revealed but it is understood this latest agreement, when combined with the BRC component, is worth significantly more than the previous 10year deal. It is believed that was valued at $100 million.

The new deal means Queensland’s three codes of racing will continue on Sky Racing platforms, which include Sky 1 and Sky 2, plus Sky Thoroughbred Central through the Foxtel network, hotels, clubs, TAB agencies and new digital platforms like Sky Racing Active, which was launched in August last year.

There has been more than 115,000 downloads of the Racing Active app, while viewer reach will expand further when Sky 2 moves to Foxtel’s base tier on August 1.

Sky says it broadcasts 12,000 Queensland thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races each year to up to 65 countries.

It is believed there has been agreement since June 30 that Sky would be Queensland’s broadcast partner but there were a number of sticking points to be sorted.