Tabcorp, Nine Entertainment and the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) have announced they will be teaming up to form a new media, broadcast and sponsorship deal ahead of the Melbourne Cup Carnival in 2024.
This collaboration will run from 2024 to 2029, and will mean the biggest horse racing meeting in Australia will be shown on all Tabcorp-operated Sky offerings, as well as the TAB app.
The sports betting company will also have all the rights to sell-on the Melbourne Cup coverage to other gambling sites.
Each year the Melbourne Cup Carnival is staged over four days, with the main race always run on the first Tuesday of November – which falls on the 5th in 2024.
In addition, Nine Entertainment will also be charged with being the free-to-air partner of one of the biggest horse racing fixtures in the world. These include streaming, audio and visual rights for broadcast, mobile, digital and all the social platforms.
Tabcorp’s part of the deal will see them as the exclusive wagering platform for all of Nine’s broadcasting of the carnival.
Tabcorp CEO, Adam Rytenskild, said
“Tabcorp’s partnership with the VRC and Nine is the most innovative in Australian sport and we can’t wait to bring our entire digital, broadcast and retail ecosystem together to grow and promote the Melbourne Cup Carnival together.
“This partnership builds on Tabcorp winning the 20-year Victorian exclusive wagering licence and will be a key pillar of our growth strategy.
“Together with our Brand and Customer transformation, this partnership gives us a terrific platform to grow in Victoria, throughout Australia and around the world as we beam the Cup to more than 60 different countries through Sky Racing.”
This deal will also give the green light to the Victoria Racing Club to focus on a longer term ‘invest strategically’ with the Melbourne Cup Carnival in mind.
Tabcorp and Nine Entertainment have also agreed to target new investment into the racing industry, which will help fund projects on and off the track, improve any horse welfare schemes and also develop many new job openings.
Victora Racing Club Chairman, Neil Wilson said
“As Australia’s first major event, the Melbourne Cup Carnival will sit very appropriately in the calendar of Nine’s Wide World of Sport major event coverage.”
“The iconic nature of the event was highlighted by a successful 2023 Melbourne Cup Carnival, with more than 262,000 racing fans at Flemington and millions more engaging with the Lexus Melbourne Cup at home and abroad,”
“The Melbourne Cup Carnival is one of Australia’s most culturally and economically important major events, and it is right here in Melbourne – considered by many as the sporting capital of the world.”
“As its custodians, the VRC places significant emphasis on protecting the history and tradition of Cup Week, which is loved by so many Australians, while innovating for the future and investing in our club and the major event that is the Melbourne Cup Carnival.”
“This landmark partnership is not only good for Melbourne and Victorian racing, but it also guarantees our sport has primacy across multiple platforms and channels.”
Finally, the three-pronged partnership will also underpin the donations and social interaction around the Melbourne Cup, including the $500k raised for charity at the 2023 carnival and extra jobs the meeting creates each year.
In addition, Nine will also be the main broadcaster for the Penfolds Derby Day, Lexus Melbourne Cup Day, VRC Oaks Day and TAB Champions Stakes Day.
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