Flutter Entertainment and Racecourse Media Group (RMG) have confirmed the signing of a long-term partnership, lasting until 2028, focusing around streaming rights and marketing.

The deal will see Flutter Entertainment leverage RMG’s horse racing streams to supply more content to its customers across its online and retail Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet verticals.

Meanwhile, RMG will look to utilise Flutter’s marketing capabilities to greater engage with consumers with the goal of driving public interest in horse racing and subsequently boost revenues for the sport – with 100% of its operating profit paid back into racing due to racecourse stakeholders holding 100% control of the firm.

“We’re delighted to confirm that we have reached a new long-term agreement with RMG, a key partner in providing the best possible horse racing product to our customers,” remarked Conor Grant, Flutter UK and Ireland CEO.

“We have an important and longstanding relationship with the racing industry, investing a total of £100m through media rights, sponsorship, hospitality, marketing and the levy in the last year. We are continually looking for ways to collaborate directly with partners like RMG and the rest of the racing industry to enable British horseracing to achieve its great potential and secure the long-term sustainability of the sport.”

By leveraging RMG’s portfolio of horse racing content, Flutter aims to stream a number of international fixtures to its retail and online customers, as RMG maintains a range of agreements with racetracks globally.

In July of this year, the media outlet renewed its streaming rights agreements with 35 racecourses across the UK and Ireland to provide streaming for Licenced Betting Offices (LBOs) under the terms of five-year contracts, with 33 of the venues also signing agreements concerning other aspects of media. 

These deals include prominent events such as the Grand National, as well as the Cheltenham Festival, for which the outlet secured up to 500,000 streams on individual races at the latest edition of the event, a year-on-year growth rate of 60% and reportedly the highest streaming figure in British and Irish racing history.

Additionally, the company has also entered a three-year partnership with SIS (Sports Information Services) to deliver audio-visual from British racecourses, whilst internationally an agreement with Timeline Television saw RMG secure distribution of media rights for Bahrain’s Sakhir Racecourse covering the ongoing 2021/2022 season.

Commenting on RMG’s partnership with Flutter, Martin Stevenson, CEO of RMG, said: “This agreement will have far reaching benefits for RMG’s racecourses and the industry itself. We are delighted to collaborate with Britain and Ireland’s largest betting company, Flutter Entertainment, which gives both companies the opportunity to work together to promote RMG’s racecourses and the sport.

“We will be able to call on the considerable marketing reach of both companies in terms of working together via sponsorships and advertising, to expand the appeal of our horseracing both domestically and overseas.”