Horse racing is one of the most popular spectator sports in the world, and it’s likely to remain in the mainstream long into the future. Streaming services have already started to offer horse racing-related content, highlighting how they want to benefit from its enduring popularity.
With Netflix pursuing a range of live content, the platform may soon try to offer some horse racing events. Other services such as Amazon may see the benefit of this as well and compete for rights. However, it may not be that easy, as current horse race broadcasting is fragmented across different services.
Horse Racing is Starting to Permeate the Wider Entertainment Industry
Horse racing is no longer something that’s only enjoyed in the physical world. In fact, the sport has permeated online entertainment successfully and in a variety of ways. It now plays a huge role in the online casino market, for example, with the Derby Wheel slot one of many horse racing-themed games for players to choose from. Games like this recreate the buzz of race day and allow players to enjoy it in a virtual setting.
There are other digital channels that have helped spread horse racing to different demographics as well, such as the recent rise of NFT horse racing platforms. These allow users to buy horses, train them, and have them compete in races. They can even try to increase their value and trade them with other users.
Streaming services have tried to tap into the growing interest in horse racing, with some unique series in recent years. However, none have yet managed to offer their own live horse racing.
Fragmented Rights Make It Hard for Streaming Services
Even though streaming services have managed to secure the rights to broadcast some sports, the existing commercial structure of horse racing could present more barriers. It’s different to football leagues, for instance, which negotiate collective media packages. For horse racing, the rights are fragmented across individual racecourses and governing agreements. Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing already hold a lot of the cards, making it harder for streaming services to muscle in.
The best approach may be for streaming services to target certain race meets or events and bid for the rights to air those exclusively. Netflix has already shown that it is willing to take this approach with its deal for the rights to WWE Raw, and a similar move for a horse racing event could prove to be fruitful. Alternatively, it could offer different angles to existing events, such as behind-the-scenes footage away from the racing.
There’s also the chance that a streaming service could create its own brand-new racing event. Netflix has done this with boxing, hosting its own special live events over the last few years. It could easily do the same with horse racing, using its promotional prowess to push a new meeting.
With horse racing likely to remain one of the world’s most popular sports for many more years, it would make sense for streaming services to start trying to benefit from it. This could potentially lead to huge deals for existing events or the creation of brand new events for streaming services.
