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UK – RMG and SIS agree new five-year deal

By - 6 October 2015

Racecourse Media Group (RMG) and Satellite Information Services (SIS) have announced a five-year agreement for the distribution of audio-visual ‘pictures’ and data to licensed betting offices (LBO) across UK and Ireland for the period 2018-2023.

Under the agreement RMG will maintain responsibility for collecting pictures and data from all its fixtures. SIS will take delivery of the pictures and data from RMG’s production facility in Ealing, West London, and will make it available to major bookmakers for inclusion in their in-house channels, most of which are produced by SIS. In addition, the pictures and data will be included in a SIS-produced channel for bookmakers who currently rely on the SIS FACTS channel.

The new deal will represent a far more efficient relationship between RMG and retail bookmakers, with a significant uplift in payments to racecourses and a saving for bookmakers over current arrangements. RMG will share in the impact of their product in retail through a discounting structure that means that payments to RMG drop if shops close.

Market inefficiencies or ‘leakage’, as it has been referred to in the media, is being greatly reduced – a key objective of RMG’s tender process that led to this agreement. The new arrangement also ensures that all retail bookmakers across the UK and Ireland will continue to have access to a package of very important core content from SIS to support their over-the-counter sports betting businesses for many years to come.

The agreement creates a new and positive era of collaboration between RMG and bookmakers, facilitated by SIS, where the parties will work together so the sport can better understand how to enhance LBO content.

Richard FitzGerald, Chief Executive of RMG, said: “Today’s agreement with SIS is a significant step forward for our courses and shows what can be achieved when racing and bookmakers work together. This more efficient rights structure will deliver a significant uplift in payments to racecourses, while bookmakers will be paying reduced costs for guaranteed quality content for the long-term.

“We considered a wide range of options for our rights and this deal offers both the scale of increase and the security we were seeking.”

Gary Smith, Chief Executive of SIS added: “SIS is very pleased to have been able to reach this agreement which we believe represents an efficient, sustainable arrangement for bookmakers, racecourses and SIS for the future. The deal cements SIS’ role in the retail betting industry for the foreseeable future and ensures that we have the platform from which to continue the reinvention of SIS, developing new products and services for the modern bookmaking and gaming industry.”

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