Spotlight Sports Group (SSG) has moved to strengthen its standing in North America via a new commercial partnership with Playmaker Capital that will continue its expansion of betting services on the continent.  

The sports betting content and technology group has entered into an agreement with Playmaker Capital, to service its flagship US sports media platform Yardbarker.

SSG will provide a turnkey horse racing section on the Yardbarker.com portal, which attracts 12 million user sessions per month, covering entries, results, content, tools, games, and coverage of all US horseracing fixtures ahead of the Kentucky Derby later this month. 

Rick Wolf, SVP, Spotlight Sports Group, said: “It could be argued that there is a perception that horse racing in America has been thought to be difficult to understand and consume.

“Spotlight Sports Group’s decades of experience publishing premium horse racing content and actionable betting intelligence, coupled with Yardbarker’s reach to sports fans, gives us the unique opportunity to make horse racing digestible, understandable and continue to support its growth and popularity with all sports fans.”

With the Derby and the Kentucky Oaks, taking place the day prior – scheduled in two weeks time, SSG will provide entries, results and charts in the build up to the fixtures as well as profile of participating horses to better inform customers. 

Further Kentucky content will include horse-by-horse breakdowns with notes and quotes and complete stats articles detailing ‘10 ways to play the big races’ and pick-6 analysis for both events. 

Finally, provided content will also cover other US horse racing events in addition to the two Kentucky fixtures, including entries, latest odds and charts, feature articles on horse racing for ‘casual and regulator handicappers’ and daily free bets and exclusive officers.

SSG will also publish event guides of major track openings, AI-based automated horse racing generated content and contests and games developed in order to ‘make horse racing more fun’. 

“Understanding that our audience loves all sports but was not engaged in horse racing created an opportunity to deliver a world-class experience and encourage our users to embrace an amazing sport,” added Yardbarker CEO Ben Maggin. 

“Yardbarker’s brand is the perfect place to ignite a rnewed love of horse racing and create a place where fans can understand, embrace and enjoy one of the oldest sports in America. 

“Spotlight Sports Group is the perfect partner to introduce horse racing to the Yardbarker audience and explode awareness across the sports landscape.”

The Playmaker agreement is the second major operator partnership secured by SSG in recent months, following on from a deal with BoyleSports which saw the Irish bookmaker named as the title sponsor of Spotlight’s The Sweet Spot golf show.