TVG to take wagers on Churchill Downs, Derby

Television Games Network, the largest account-wagering operator in the U.S., reached an agreement on Thursday that will allow the company to offer wagering on Churchill Downs beginning on Friday, the network and Churchill said on Thursday.

The agreement will allow TVG to offer wagering on the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby for the first time in two years. TVG once carried the rights to Churchill and the tracks owned by its parent company, but after agreements with Churchill's tracks began expiring in 2006, the network has been blacked out from the races.

The deal will also allow TVG to offer wagering on all of the races controlled by a simulcast-marketing partnership, TrackNet Media, that is co-owned by Churchill and Magna Entertainment. Together, the companies own more than a dozen tracks, including Arlington Park, Calder Race Course, Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, and Pimlico Race Course, the site of the second leg of the Triple Crown.

In a release, Churchill said that the agreement would run through the end of 2009.