ITV extends horse racing deal until end of 2026

ITV has extended its agreement to show UK horse racing free-to-air untill the end of 2026. 

The broadcaster has been showing the sport since 2017, with over 100 days of live coverage across ITV and ITV4 every year. It also has morning racing programme The Opening Show. The deal, which includes multiple major horse racing organisations such as The Jockey Club, Racecourse Media Group, Ascot Racecourse, Arena Racing Company, and the British Horse Racing Authority, includes the Grand National, the Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot and the Derby.

ITV took over horse racing coverage from Channel 4 in 2017, and reports that since then it has seen viewing increase across the board. This includes for major events, with average audiences for the Cheltenham Festival growing more than a third overall and more than 50% for young viewers compared and record figures for individual days regularly registered.

Niall Sloane, ITV director of sport, said: “This deal will take us to a decade of racing on ITV and we’re delighted to be able to continue to bring to viewers well over 100 days of live coverage of this wonderful sport, including some of the most enjoyable, storied and thrilling events of each year.  We look forward to continuing to work with Racecourse Media Group and our other partners within racing to bring audiences the very best racing has to offer in the coming years.”

Martin Stevenson, CEO of Racecourse Media Group, said: “On behalf of our racecourses, we are delighted to have cemented our relationship with ITV for a further three years. ITV have been an excellent partner for the sport, providing more terrestrial coverage here in the UK than in any other racing jurisdiction in the world, illustrating both the commitment of the broadcaster and the enduring popularity of the sport.”

Nevin Truesdale, The Jockey Club’s chief executive, said: “We at The Jockey Club love working with the ITV Racing team to showcase the sport, our racecourses, the horses and the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to tell their stories in an entertaining, fun and engaging way. We’re really looking forward to continuing to do that and finding new ways to collaborate in the future.”

Alastair Warwick, acting chief executive of Ascot Racecourse, said: “We are delighted to have agreed this extension to our highly successful partnership with ITV who continue to make the sport more accessible through their coverage. I would particularly like to recognise the dedication to racing the team showed throughout the pandemic period which was fundamental to our sport’s recovery. ITV are an incredibly important partner for us, broadcasting Ascot into millions of homes across the country and we look forward to working with them across the next three years.”

ARC director of commercial strategy David Leyden Dunbar said: “ITV have been a fantastic partner for the sport since 2017, and we are delighted to continue the relationship for a further three years. Such widespread terrestrial television coverage is incredibly important to everyone involved in British Racing, and ITV should be applauded for providing the sport with such a platform.”

Julie Harrington, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, said: “ITV’s coverage and promotion of British racing is exceptional, bringing our sport’s many wonderful stories to life with passion and pride. At the BHA we are keen to work closely with our broadcast partners in order to help them further improve the viewer experience for both new and existing fans alike, with innovation as to how the sport is packaged and presented being a core element of the industry’s strategy.”