“Martin Broughton, Chairman of the Rights Working Group commented today :-

“We welcome the RCA’s agreement to join the Working Group and look forward to agreeing the terms of reference with their representatives.

“Less welcome is the RCA’s decision to seek to restrict the discussions within the Working Group to the pooling of rights relating to the service to betting shops. There are strong linkages between all the various rights currently under discussion and I would like to think that the RCA will remain sufficiently flexible to enable racecourses to operate in the best interests of our industry. As Peter Savill emphasised at the BHB AGM last week, the separate negotiation of different sets of rights will severely constrain the development of a unified strategy for the benefit of Racing as a whole, with each rights’ holder likely to seek to maximise the value of their own rights at the expense of others.

“In our further discussions with the RCA and racecourses we shall continue to endeavour to persuade them of the benefits of taking a broader view.”

MD say’s (no contact details)
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