Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and TVG
Network have announced a simulcast and on-track broadcast partnership that will
begin with the start of racing this summer at Del Mar on July 18.
The
two racing entities, who already are in a racing partnership surrounding the
$1-million TVG Pacific Classic, have agreed to an additional multi-year
arrangement for the network to produce both Del Mar’s daily live race feed for
broadcast to simulcast customers throughout the Western Hemisphere, as well as
a separate broadcast feed for on-track customers during the track’s 37-day
season.
Both
broadcasts will utilize TVG personnel and the on-track feed will have High
Definition components with a goal of expanding all of the broadcast coverage –
including its Fox Sports regional telecasts -- to HD in the near future.
Currently, Del Mar’s simulcast signal is sent to over 1,000 locations
throughout North and South America.
TVG
will continue in its role as the exclusive broadcast provider of racing at Del
Mar via daily telecasts on cable and small satellite outlets throughout the
United States.
“We
are delighted to partner with TVG in this key element of the broadcasting of
our racing product,” said Josh Rubinstein, senior vice president for
development at Del Mar. “The ability to enhance our simulcast signal with TVG
talent and production is something we’re very excited about. We look forward to
working with TVG on providing our customers – both on- and off-track – with the
most comprehensive and innovative broadcast product in the industry.”
Tony
Allevato, TVG’s executive vice president, expressed his company’s enthusiasm
for its extended association with the renowned seaside racing facility. “Del
Mar and TVG have enjoyed a more than decade-long partnership and this new
agreement takes that partnership to an even greater level. We are excited to
extend our role as Del Mar’s exclusive broadcaster by being able to deliver its
racing product to fans on-track and across the country via the simulcast
network.”
Last
September, TVG signed a wide-ranging agreement with Del Mar and Keeneland in
Kentucky highlighted by an attempt to bring daily coverage of U.S. horseracing
in High Definition to its nationally distributed television network. The
just-announced partnership provides a further step in that direction.
Besides
its new broadcast deal, Del Mar and TVG have worked together over the past two
summers to ensure the purse of the track’s signature race – the Pacific Classic
-- would remain at $1 million, making it the west’s only test for older horses
carrying a seven-figure incentive. In 2010 the race was called the Pacific
Classic Presented by TVG. Then in 2011, when the racing network increased its
supplement to the race, it was renamed the TVG Pacific Classic, a title it will
carry once more this year.
Del
Mar, which was founded in 1937 by entertainment icon Bing Crosby, will be
celebrating its 75th anniversary this summer. TVG, a subsidiary of Betfair
Group PLC, the premier e-gaming betting community, is among the most widely
distributed horseracing networks in the world. Additionally, it is one of the
largest legal online gaming companies in the United States.
Del
Mar again will race on a Wednesday through Sunday schedule throughout the
summer up until Wednesday, September 5. There also will be racing on Labor Day
Monday, September 3. First post on most days will be at 2 p.m. with the
exception of Fridays when cards start at 4 p.m.