The lead broadcaster of Victorian racing, Racing.com, is still waiting for sign-off to show the four days of the Melbourne Cup Carnival to its viewers two weeks out from Derby day.
Racing Victoria’s media company has to negotiate with Tabcorp to have coverage of the Cup carnival, and last year it took until Derby day eve for an agreement to be signed.
TAB aggregates the Melbourne Cup Carnival’s television and digital rights on behalf of the VRC. As The Race That Stops The Nation is on the anti-siphoning list, they must on-sell these rights to a free-to-air network.
They have done the deal with Nine, it is understood that there are two clauses if the product is further resold to other providers.
For 360 days a year, Racing.com is the home of Victorian racing, and in the view of many within Victoria, it is a deal that should be one of the first done.
Last year saw Racing.com not even able to use footage or action from the track on any of its social media platforms.
However, tensions between Sky Channel and Racing.com and Racing Victoria and the VRC play out in the background of the deal.
Racing.com has been able to sign deals with Western Australia and Tasmania for their vision in recent times, to go with its hold on the Victorian and South Australian vision.
While all races appear on Sky 1, the TAB keeps losing out when negotiating with racing jurisdictions, with many expressing frustrations about those negotiating the deals.
TAB and Racing.com were contacted for comment, but given negotiations are continuing, neither wanted to make a comment publicly. Despite the significant delays, insiders are still confident a last minute deal will be signed.
