NSW hits out in horseracing rights row

RACING NSW chief executive Peter V’landys has accused Racing Victoria of breaching board confidentiality rules amid a rights row.

RACING NSW chief executive Peter V’landys has accused Racing Victoria of breaching board confidentiality rules in what he called a “bizarre” and “self-serving” four-page press release issued over a TV rights stoush that has the two biggest thoroughbred states at loggerheads.

The Racing Victoria statement was issued on Friday following a Christmas Eve board meeting of Thoroughvision (TVN), which holds the media rights to horse racing in NSW and Victoria.

In the statement, Racing Victoria said the TVN board had “reluctantly” accepted a proposal by Racing NSW and the Sydney-based Australian Turf Club to “disaggregate” media rights, returning them to the clubs that ultimately own them.

Racing Victoria also accused Racing NSW of blocking a contract to sell vision to a “leading ­wagering operator” and instead pushing for an exclusive agreement with Tabcorp, which owns pay-TV channel Sky Racing.

The Australian revealed yesterday that James Packer-backed Bet­Easy plans to stream Victorian racing on its website.

Mr V’landys’ attack on Racing Victoria came as its chief executive, Bernard Saundry, recommitted the body to a digital media strategy, including selling vision to Tabcorp’s bookmaker rivals, which has emerged as a key issue in the split.

Both men were speaking on the 13th day that subscribers to Sky Racing have been unable to see NSW and Victorian races due to the dispute, although TVN continues to broadcast meetings on its own channel. Mr V’landys said a “worst-case scenario” was that the rights would be disaggregated within 30 days.

He said he was unable to respond to the detailed timeline of events set out in Racing Victoria’s press release without also breaching board confidentiality rules.

“We were very, very disappointed at the breach of board confidentiality,” Mr V’landys said.

“It was an extraordinarily self-serving document.

“Their relationship with Tabcorp has got to be very negative after that press release.”

He said Racing NSW believed that “without wagering the picture has no value” but Victoria took a different view.

Mr Saundry said Racing Victoria continued to work closely with Tabcorp, with which it was in a joint venture, but wanted to be able to deliver racing vision to punters “any time, anywhere”.

“We need to be able to tell the narrative of racing, profile our horses, our races, our jockeys, and profile the premium product that’s presented in Victoria,” Mr Saundry said.

“We run 550 times a year and we need media platforms to promote our sport for the benefit of wagering partners, the most important being Tabcorp.”

He said deciding whether TVN should be wound up was up to its shareholders. The ATC owns half of TVN, with the remainder belonging to Victorian racing clubs.

He would not be drawn on whether the stumbling blocks to a deal with Tabcorp that Racing Victoria outlined in its Friday press release remained relevant, including a proposal that any increase in the race fees Racing Victoria charged Tabcorp reduce the fee Tabcorp paid to TVN, even though Racing Victoria and TVN are two separate organisations.