BREEDERS' CUP ATTRACTS RECORD BROADCASTERS FOR THIS YEAR'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday, 31st October 2024 - The Breeders’ Cup World Championships returns to Del Mar on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd November. This two-day championship will feature expanded global coverage, with 30 networks broadcasting the event across every populated continent. This marks an increase in reach, ensuring that the excitement of the Breeders' Cup can be experienced by horse racing fans worldwide.
Coverage of all 14 champion races, which collectively boast $34 million in prize money and awards, will be produced by host broadcaster NBC. Four championship races, headlined by the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic and Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, will be showcased on the main NBC channel, with the full two-day card also available across Peacock, USA Network and FanDuel TV.
UK viewers can catch the Breeders' Cup on ITV Racing, with excitement building around City of Troy, the European champion three-year-old and Epsom Derby winner, making his final career start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic before retiring to stud in Ireland. Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV will offer full coverage of all races for UK and Irish audiences.
HBA Media (HBA), the Breeders’ Cup’s exclusive international distribution agency, has secured:
· 10 broadcasters showcasing Future Stars Friday via the NBC World Feed - seeing bolstered distribution. (Up from six last year).
· From the 30 international broadcasters championing the Breeders’ Cup - six are new deals, along with an array of renewals. Notably, Channel Nine (Australia) will broadcast a bespoke 60-minute show, whilst Rogers (Canada) will cover the entire World Feed on its Sportsnet channel. Meanwhile, ESPN and Disney+ will broadcast both days across 50 territories in South America, SuperSport will cover the event throughout Africa and Virgin Media in Ireland will provide extensive airtime, as multiple Irish challengers compete.
HBA and the Breeders’ Cup have continued their unique ‘Golden Hour’ production, which focuses on delivering the feature Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic to an international audience. This offering will be broadcast worldwide by Channel Nine (Australia), Setanta (Balkans and Eurasia), Sony Pictures Networks (Indian Subcontinent), WeDo Sports (Germany, Switzerland and Austria), Polsat (Poland) and Sport 24 (Global Airlines), amongst others.
Full coverage details:
USA/Canada: NBC, USA Network, Peacock and FanDuel TV with Sportsnet in Canada.
South America and Caribbean: ESPN/Disney+ (Latin America), SportsMax (Caribbean).
Europe: ITV4 (UK), Racing TV (UK & Ireland), Sky Sports Racing (UK & Ireland), Virgin Media (Ireland), Kanal 75 (Sweden), Setanta (Balkans and Eurasia), Polsat (Poland), Silknet (Georgia), WeDo Sports (Germany, Switzerland, Austria), EuroVision (20 European dark market territories) and Viaplay (Scandinavia, Netherlands).
Middle East and Africa: DMI (MENA), SuperSport (Africa).
Asia: Sony Pictures Networks (Indian Subcontinent), Transvision (Indonesia), The Green Channel (Japan) and NTV (Mongolia).
Australia/New Zealand: Channel Nine and Entain (both territories).
News and Magazine outlets: Reuters, Sport24 and TransWorld Sports.
Frank Sale, Managing Director of HBA Media, said: “Del Mar Racecourse offers the Breeders’ Cup the most scenic backdrop for this prestigious Championship series. The expanded worldwide reach of 30 networks broadcasting the live coverage underlines the Breeders’ Cup importance within the sporting landscape, as well as its engaged fanbase internationally.
“HBA is proud to have represented the Breeders’ Cup international rights for well over a decade now and the pick-up this year matches the ambition we have for the sport of horse racing and the opportunity we see with its premium assets”.
“The Breeders’ Cup is pleased to see increasing interest in and affinity for the World Championships from fans around the world year after year,” said Breeders’ Cup Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Justin McDonald. “Not only are more international horses than ever traveling to Del Mar to compete in the world’s best two days of racing, but thanks to HBA and our media distribution partners, fans and bettors around the world will be able to experience it all from their home countries. We look forward to continuing to expand our reach and engage new fans around the world in the years to come.”
The Breeders' Cup is a feature of the Crown Jewels Racing (CJR) broadcast package, which showcases 18 of the best horseracing events in the world, all evenly spaced throughout the year. Broadcasters can elect to take the full world feed (produced by NBCU) or the CJR ‘Golden Hour’ (produced by HBA Media) around the Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday 2nd November (21:00 to 22:00 GMT). The CJR promo can be viewed here and the CJR Fantasy game is free to play at https://fantasy.crownjewelsracing.com.
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