Irish media rights negotiations could linger on as prospect of Dundalk sale lends further uncertainty

Paddy Walsh, chief executive of the Association of Irish Racecourses (Air), says it is unlikely there will be any final decisions arising out of a potentially turbulent meeting that will see the minutiae of the proposed media rights deal presented to its 26 member tracks on Tuesday.

Following the announcement by Horse Racing Ireland and Air in October that the Racecourse Media Group (RMG) and SIS had been identified as preferred bidders for Irish racing's latest five-year media rights contract, a handful of racecourses have been agitating for a larger slice of the revenue. They have argued that HRI is compromised in its role by dint of the fact that it convenes the media rights committee that is mandated to negotiate the contracts yet owns four of Ireland's 26 racecourses.

The new deal is reckoned to be worth around €40 million to Irish racing, and Kilbeggan, Limerick, Thurles, Sligo and Roscommon formed an alliance called United Irish Racecourses (UIR) to lobby for an enhanced share to be divided up more equally, insisting that HRI takes too much of the revenue and also that the higher profile tracks receive a disproportionate share of the yield.