Nine awarded Melbourne Cup broadcast rights
The Victoria Racing Club’s four-day Melbourne Cup carnival will be broadcast on Channel Nine.
In a deal which again saw the custodian of Flemington turn its back on rival network Channel 7, which broadcasts racing every Saturday throughout the year but pulled out of the tender process last year, the VRC and Tabcorp have signed a six-year agreement with Nine.
Channel Ten had broadcast the Cup carnival for the past five years in a deal worth $100 million to the VRC.
Under the new deal, which is worth a reported $80 million from 2024 to 2029, Channel Nine will broadcast Victoria Derby Day, Melbourne Cup day, VRC Oaks Day and Champions Day.
The Melbourne Cup Carnival will be broadcast on all Sky platforms and the TAB app, with Tabcorp having the right to on-sell the coverage to wagering providers.
The Racing Victoria-owned Racing.com, which has also been broadcasting the Cup carnival on its free-to-air and Foxtel channel, will be able to negotiate with Tabcorp for a sub-licence to allow it to broadcast the 37 races across the four days without delay, as it has also done under the previous Channel Ten rights agreement.
VRC chairman Neil Wilson said that this was an important strategic announcement for the industry, Tabcorp, Nine and the VRC.
“The VRC is delighted to extend and enhance its long-term partnership with Tabcorp. As Australia’s first major event, the Melbourne Cup Carnival will sit very appropriately in the calendar of Nine’s Wide World of Sport major event coverage,” Wilson said.
“The Melbourne Cup Carnival is Australia’s pre-eminent racing event, and the partnership continues the VRC’s unwavering commitment to showcasing the very best the sport of racing has to offer and attracting new fans to the sport.
“The iconic nature of the event was highlighted by a successful 2023 Melbourne Cup Carnival, with more than 262,000 racing fans at Flemington and millions more engaging with the Lexus Melbourne Cup at home and abroad.”
VRC chief executive Steve Rosich added: “Nine’s capability to showcase coverage of Melbourne Cup Carnival racing and events across the depth of their leading broadcast and streaming assets make for a compelling partnership outcome.”
Channel 7 will broadcast the $10 million Golden Eagle meeting from Rosehill and the Big Dance meeting at Randwick on Melbourne Cup day in competition with Channel Nine for punters’ attention.