"For seven years our broadcast day began at 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT, but now we'll cater to horseplayers on the east coast by going live at 9:00 a.m. ET/6:00 a.m. PT with the best U.K. and Irish races from ATR," said Nathanson. "This agreement will benefit the partner tracks and horsemen of TVG and ATR worldwide."
In a deal that will increase international exposure for TVG, the company has signed an agreement with At The Races and The Racing Network International. In addition to providing exposure for TVG and United States horseracing in the U.K. and Ireland, the agreement will provide new exclusive content and expanded hours of operations for TVG.Under terms of the agreement, TVG will become the exclusive provider of U.S. horseracing to ATR, Britain and Ireland's most watched horseracing channel which is distributed to more than 11-million homes in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as to its interactive service, ATR Active. ATR will run TVG coverage of U.S. races daily after UK and Irish racing has ceased. TRNI will continue to process account wagers on U.S. horseacing from the top U.K. account wagering companies, including Ladbrokes, William Hill and SkyBet, directly into U.S. pools through TRNi's proprietary wagering system. "ATR is broadly distributed in the U.K. and Ireland, making our programming easily accessible to the millions of horseracing fans there," said David Nathanson, General Manager of TVG. "That broad distribution combined with the expanded opportunities for account wagering through the leading U.K. bookmakers makes this a very exciting development for TVG and our track partners. We believe these agreements will significantly expand the interest and audience for U.S. horseracing abroad.""We're excited about being able to simulcast TVG's high quality programming including live coverage from premier U.S. tracks such as Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Del Mar, Hollywood Park, Keeneland and Saratoga, to name but a few," said Matthew Imi, ATR's Chief Executive. "At the same time, as the media rights holder of racing from our numerous racecourse partners, we are pleased that TRNi's arrangements with TVG will be giving U.S. punters the opportunity to watch our live U.K. and Irish horseracing coverage through TVG's various platforms.""We are delighted that we can now offer wagering on an expanded menu of U.S. racetracks to the U.K. and Irish markets via the TRNi wagering network and our bookmaker partners," stated Bill Hogwood, Chief Executive TRNi. To present its domestic coverage of ATR, TVG will extend its daily live programming and wagering operations by three hours to showcase live racing from such venerable racecourse as Ascot and Doncaster as well as the U.K.'s leading All-Weather tracks, Lingfield, Wolverhampton, Southwell and from Ireland, the Curragh, Leopardstown and Punchestown. In total, TVG will be broadcasting live racing from over 60% of U.K. fixtures and 100% of Irish fixtures, representing over 1,000 meets annually including world-renowned stakes events such as those at the Royal Ascot meeting as well as the St. Leger, the Irish Derby and the Irish Champion Stakes.