Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Systems, Governance and Procedures in Horse Racing Ireland: Discussion

4:00 pm

Mr. Brian Kavanagh:

There are two main players in this business in the UK. To some extent, the division in the UK between different bands of media rights provides an opportunity from an Irish point of view because there is a demand for it. One group of British race courses sell the rights under one banner, another group sells them under another banner and then Irish rights are available. The landscape has changed completely. If one goes into a betting shop now, South African racing is on television. There is racing from the US on television. Most racing is now streamed live on the Internet by bookmakers. If someone wants have a bet, they can watch a race on their phone or IPad. It is a complex area. I am not being evasive but I do not believe I can say what deal we did. It is a commercial deal. The only thing I would add is that it is fundamental to the survival of many race courses in the country.