Churchill signal returns to TVG1

LEXINGTON, Ky. – TVG1, the sport’s only dedicated horse racing broadcast channel available on most cable and satellite systems, will telecast races from the Churchill Downs fall meet this year for the first time in a decade, the two companies announced this weekend.

The agreement gives Churchill a platform on the sport’s primary broadcast television channel, which is available in 40 million homes, according to TVG. During Churchill’s brief September meet earlier this year, some of the track’s races were broadcast on TVG1, in a thaw of a relationship that has been contentious over the years.

Churchill’s races began to be broadcast on TVG1 with the track’s first fall race date, on Sunday. Churchill is the site of this year’s Breeders’ Cup event, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, and the undercard races on the two Breeders’ Cup programs will be carried live by the network, TVG said.

The parent companies of both Churchill Downs and TVG operate market-leading account-wagering companies, leading to friction between the two in the past. However, in 2015, TVG purchased the racing assets of a competing broadcast channel, HRTV, and those assets included contracts Churchill had with HRTV for the company’s simulcast broadcast rights. The contracts are not believed to expire until at least 2020.

Since the HRTV acquisition, TVG had broadcast some of Churchill’s races on TVG2, a sister channel that is far less widely distributed than TVG1. Earlier this year, TVG2 was removed from the premium cable channel lineup of Spectrum, the dominant cable provider in Louisville, putting pressure on Churchill to seek a deal with TVG for carriage on its flagship network.

The deal to carry the fall races on TVG1 is not part of a longer-term agreement, according to an official with knowledge of the pact. Churchill and TVG are expected to talk on a meet-by-meet basis about carriage, the official said, meaning broadcasts of the track’s spring meet next year remain unresolved. Churchill’s spring meet begins one week before the Kentucky Derby, the most popular race in the United States.

NBC renews BC prep races

Breeders’ Cup Ltd. and NBC Sports have reached a three-year contract extension to broadcast races within the Win and You’re In series of preps leading up to the two-day event, the two companies announced Monday.

The contract extension will keep the series of prep races on channels owned by NBC through 2021, continuing a relationship that began in 2014. The Win and You’re In series races award automatic berths to horses for select Breeders’ Cup races. This year, 10 broadcasts featuring more than 20 Win and You’re In races appeared on NBC properties.

The contract also includes exclusive digital streaming rights. In addition, America’s Best Racing, a marketing company controlled by The Jockey Club, will retain presenting sponsor rights for the races broadcast by NBC, the two companies said.