RMG on track to beat record results for racecourse shareholders this year

Racecourse Media Group (RMG) is predicting record results for its racecourse shareholders this year as the company revealed chairman Roger Lewis was staying on for an extra 12 months to help the transition to his successor.

Lewis has been on the RMG board for more than ten years during which time RMG has increased licence fees and dividend payments to its racecourses from £45 million to more than £110m in 2021.

Last year's payments, earned through racecourses' media and data rights, exceeded pre-Covid levels.

Lewis said: "RMG is in great shape and it is an honour to be asked to continue to chair the company. We have a strong board and an outstanding team of executives, led by CEO Martin Stevenson, who together have delivered in spectacular fashion for our racecourses and indeed for the sport of racing.

"We are on track to exceed our record results of last year and we pay tribute to everyone in racing, and give thanks to our racecourses, for allowing RMG to manage their media and data rights across the world."

The news will be especially welcome given the pressure on racecourse income caused by the rising cost of living and weakening revenues from bookmakers caused by issues including affordability measures.

Goodwood: one of 34 courses under the RMG umbrella organisation with an interest in Racing TVCredit: Edward Whitaker

RMG is the umbrella organisation for the 34 courses which hold an interest in Racing TV, including tracks under the Jockey Club banner, Goodwood, Newbury and York, and pays 100 per cent of its operating profit back to those racecourses.

Ascot, Chester and Bangor are also part of the group when it comes to content broadcast in betting shops, income from which is one of the main areas from which RMG's payments are derived.

Other areas include Racing TV, 'Watch & Bet' streams through bookmakers' digital platforms, the terrestrial television agreement with ITV, international sales and pre-race data.

Lewis joined the RMG board in 2012 and was appointed chairman in January 2019. He was due to step down this year but has been asked by the board to extend his tenure. A successor will be appointed in 2023.

Last year RMG agreed British racecourse licence extensions for audio-visual and data rights for a new five-year term until the end of 2028, while it was announced in October that HRI's media rights committee had selected SIS and RMG as its preferred partners for Irish racing's next five-year deal, which would include Racing TV retaining direct-to-home television rights until at least 2029.

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