IndiaRacecourse Media Group (RMG) and Sports Information Services (SIS) have partnered with NorthAlley through a contract, a pari-mutuel and fixed odds wagering provider, to establish India's first regular betting service.
The partnership permits the Hyderabad Race Club's digital platforms to broadcast live British and Irish racing material for pari-mutuel betting into local pools.
RMG owns the broadcast rights to 34 British racecourses, including Epsom, Newmarket, York, and Goodwood, whereas SIS owns the rights to all 26 Irish racecourses, as well as the Curragh and Leopardstown, and also Chelmsford City in the United Kingdom.
“We’re delighted to see our racing broadcast in India thanks to this ground-breaking joint venture with SIS and NorthAlley,” Ian Houghton, director of international at RMG stated.
“The service has now fully launched and initial turnover levels on British and Irish races have been encouraging. All being well, we very much hope to roll out the service to other regions in India in the future and introduce fixed odds betting.”
We are pleased to introduce international races to Indian bettors in the most accessible way for the first time in India.
Suresh Paladugu, chief executive of NorthAlley, commented.
We highly appreciate the initiative and support from Hyderabad Race Club management in making this happen. We will continue to work with RMG and SIS to enhance experience and bring quality content for Indian players.
The launch comes after RMG and SIS announced last month that they had reached an agreement for a new three-year distribution and transmission arrangement for audio-visual and data from British racecourses, which is permitted to bookmakers in the UK and Ireland for the years 2023-2026.
Following a competitive procurement process, SIS was granted the contract, which is part of the organisations' current five-year deal that began in 2018.
Making a comment on the contract, SIS chief executive Richard Ames said: SIS is very pleased to extend the relationship we hold with RMG and are confident that this agreement will continue to deliver excellent value for racecourses and bookmakers with a collaborative approach to growing the value of horseracing.
Winning this extension in a competitive situation is testament to the good work and excellent relationship that has been fostered between the companies over the last three years. I look forward to RMG’s premium racing content being the cornerstone of SIS’ racing services for many years to come.