As part of its rebranding and restructuring process At The Races will be known as Sky Sports Racing next year and will continue to be available to Sky customers in Ireland and Britain at no extra cost. Broadcasts will also be upgraded to HD and Sky have agreed to a 10-year deal with Chester Race Company to show live racing from both Chester and Bangor-On-Dee. Last year Sky launched dedicated channels for Football, Golf, Formula 1 and Cricket.
Managing Director of Sky Sports Barney Francis said, “We've seen a great reaction from our customers to launching dedicated sports channels and this takes us to another level. Horse racing is a massive sport that Sky has been involved in for two decades, now we will have a channel to give our customers more of what they love every day. Adding Chester and Bangor-on-Dee is fantastic news and we look forward to making Sky Sports Racing a new home for racing fans.”
Chester have never been afraid to go against the grain, they launched their own pool betting service Chester Bet in 2012 and the company's chief executive Richard Thomas said, “We're delighted to announce this new deal and long-term partnership. We believe it secures a positive and exciting future for Chester and Bangor-on-Dee and it fits squarely with our values and ambitions.
Irish racing fans have long relied on ATR for their sole coverage of all Irish racing but that will cease at the end of this year with Racing UK having won the rights to broadcast the Irish product from Jan. 1, 2019. That situation lead many to fear for the future of the channel having lost such a major share of the market but ATR chief Matthew Imi is very optimistic about the future.
“We very much look forward to working with Richard and his excellent teams at Chester and Bangor-on-Dee, both tracks are very well supported and respected within the industry as well as being truly progressive in their outlook,” said Imi.
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