Arena venture to put racing in the picture

Arena said it has entered the joint venture with Racecourse Media Group via its media rights distribution firm At The Races, which will see the organisations share their broadcast rights.

Arena, which owns and operates seven racecourses in the UK, holds a 46 per cent stake in At The Races.

The firm said it expects the joint venture, which starts in March, to deliver savings of 500,000 this year for At The Races, as well as revenue growth in the longer term.

Chief executive Mark Elliott said the group has continued to trade in line with expectations. He added: "In partnership, ATR and RMG will provide a platform to offer enhanced distribution of racing content to existing markets, as well as maximise cost efficiencies and, more effectively, expand distribution of UK and Irish racing internationally.

"This joint venture is further evidence of the underlying value inherent within racing and, in particular, within Arena's portfolio of racing media rights and another example of the group's strategy of maximising financial returns from this valuable portfolio of assets."

Arena said the joint venture will create "a new, unified broadcast service" which will target markets such as Italy, France, South Africa, Turkey and Australia as well as expanding into markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

ATR owns the international distribution rights to 30 UK racecourses and all 26 Irish racecourses.

RMG owns the international distribution rights to the remaining 30 UK racecourses, including Beverley, Thirsk and York.

Arena believes as a combined product, British and Irish racing is a "hugely powerful proposition" and is "unrivalled in terms of quality, depth and variety".

Analysts at house broker Altium Securities said: "This joint venture is further evidence of the underlying value inherent within racing and, in particular, within Arena's portfolio of racing media rights...

"The group's strategy of maximising financial returns from its valuable portfolio of assets remains firmly on track and we feel that group profitability is likely to rise dramatically from current levels."

They added: "We are encouraged that the group has continued to trade in line with expectations... Whilst the poor weather has led to some industry cancellations the benefits of Arena's all-weather tracks at Lingfield Park, Southwell and Wolverhampton has meant it has suffered minimal disruption."