Last month, Martin Stevenson was named chief executive of Racecourse Media Group (RMG), the media and data rights holding company for the UK and Ireland’s leading racecourses.
A phenomenal success story since it began with the dedicated racing channel then called Racing UK back in 2004, RMG has posted year-on-year increases in licence fees payable to its racecourse shareholders nearly every year of trading, many of which were under the stewardship of outgoing CEO Richard FitzGerald.
How will Stevenson (left) build on the foundations laid by the former IMG man, who’s fruitful 12-year tenure, which included the deal for ITV to provide terrestrial coverage and the rebranding of the channel to Racing TV following the securing of Irish rights?
Stevenson, a qualified accountant, joined RMG as its finance director in 2007. He said at the time of his recent appointment that “RMG never stands still”, that he hopes it will continue to “innovate with our output” and to be “creative and forward-thinking in how best to commercialise our racecourses’ content”.
Here he talks exclusively to TRC about how his organic promotion will provide a simple transition, the return to the ‘new normal’, Racing TV’s new virtual studio, combating drone-operators, and Racing TV’s Irish output.
Congratulations on being named RMG’s new chief executive. How do you feel about getting the top job and what skill set do you think that you can bring to the position? You have stated you have developed a “deep and intimate knowledge” of the company’s business and operations. Can you explain some of this for the lay reader?
Thank you very much! I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to take up the CEO role at Racecourse Media Group. I have worked at RMG for 13 years, so I have built up a strong affinity and understanding with the business. As well as being Finance Director, I have been heavily involved with RMG’s strategy during that period, which has enabled me to gain an overview of the industry as a whole and how media can help the industry to grow.
How did you get into the racing business? Are you a fan of it, outside of your professional capacities?
My involvement with the racing business began with Racing Post, having joined for the launch of the paper [in 1986]. Racing Post was subsequently acquired by Trinity Mirror, where I spent some time managing Racing Post and became group financial controller. So, my enthusiasm for the sport did stem from my work initially, but now it is one of my passions.
I truly believe that it’s hard for any other sport to rival the race-day experience, and it’s a fascinating industry. It combines the many social aspects with the thorough professionalism and dedication of those directly involved, whether they are horsemen or those behind staging the raceday. It’s a great blend.
Your predecessor, Richard FitzGerald, was in the role for almost 12 years and recorded year-on-year increases in licence fees payable to RMG’s racecourse shareholders. How do you intend to build on Fitzgerald’s legacy?
Richard has left big shoes to fill, but I worked extremely closely with him throughout those 12 years, and we were always looking for ways to take the business forward. RMG has never stood still in our drive to maximise returns to our racecourses and, by extension, the sport itself.
In terms of the future, RMG believes driving fan engagement – punters and viewers alike – is key to the success of the business. To do this, our output – whether it is the main Racing TV channel, Racing TV International, Watch & Bet and Extra streams, social media content or international world feeds – needs to be engaging and first-rate as it underpins all we do.
The investment in, and development of, our media assets and new products – such as enhancements on the channel, headlined by the Virtual Studio, the Watch & Bet product, the ultra-low latency, the investment of on-screen timing data, and exploring the in-play opportunities – are all key for us. These workstreams will all contribute to attracting more eyeballs on to our racing, which, in turn, drives betting turnover, subscriptions, and sponsorship opportunities in the sport. And this all feeds into the RMG vision of increasing returns for our racecourses.
How, in your opinion, will racing broadcasts differ when we return to a ‘new normal’?
There have been restrictions on our on-course presenters’ movement and access to interviewees, and we have lost the buzz and atmosphere which crowds bring to the output, so we will welcome all that back.
What we have seen is more video interviews, which has perhaps given us enhanced accessibility. I also think interviewees have been more forthcoming during Covid-19, appreciating the need to pull together and promote the sport. Our new Virtual Studio has helped us to keep the racing fraternity closely linked on an ongoing basis and has been the perfect platform for video-conferencing and other remote tools – and they will be here to stay now.
Last month saw RMG’s Timeline TV collaborate with Racing TV to launch a new Virtual Studio in Ealing, West London, with the “aim of taking televised horse racing coverage ‘to the next level’”. What will the new Virtual Studio enable you to do?
The overriding objective of the new studio is to take viewers as close to the racecourse action as possible, without physically being there. The new studio works as a hub by bringing in all Racing TV’s race-day feeds, with reporters at every course, which we believe creates a ‘watch together’ racing community experience.
The studio also offers environments specific to the programming strands, such as the panoramic area, a stand-up position with augmented reality big screen, a timing information data area for analytical shows, and the main presentation desk for a panel of up to three guests. We are also looking forward to developing our augmented and virtual reality tools, which will all contribute to taking our broadcasts to another level.
It is fair to say that Racing TV’s coverage of Irish racing received plenty of pushback when it took over from At The Races at the start of 2019. How have these perceived issues been rectified? What did you do to ameliorate your production and get fans of Irish racing back onside? How important is the coverage of Irish racing to the business, and on a personal level?
We always expected it might take time for Racing TV to bed in in Ireland so anticipated some resistance as many people don’t like change. Most of the criticism was directed towards race clashes, and a lot of hard work by HRI, BHA and the racecourses has gone into minimising race clashes, while the introduction of non-standardised race times has been hugely welcomed.
As people’s viewing habits have evolved, our data shows us that more and more people are watching our dedicated racecourse streams, with presenters from every fixture, on our Extra service. So, like you would with a ‘match choice’ option in tennis or football, you can sit and watch uninterrupted coverage from just one fixture.
I think this service, allied to minimal advertising, low-latency pictures, new top-class pundits such as Ruby Walsh, Jane Mangan and Fran Berry, and being able to marry the narratives and archives of the Irish and British seasons on one channel, has all helped win our critics around.
It’s been borne out by the fact that nearly 25 percent of our 64,000-strong membership base is now in Ireland. We have also worked closely with the Irish racecourses in bringing them ITV coverage and given Irish racing a wider shop window via our network of international broadcasters. The likes of Fox Sports in the U.S. and ESPN in Latin America took Irish racing for the first time under the RMG distribution arm.
There has been a lot of press about drone operators filming racing for in-running betting and so get an edge on those watching ‘official streams’ on their devices. How are you combatting this?
RMG has invested significantly in its streaming and collaborated with long-time partner STATS Perform and U.S.-based Phenix – whose real-time streaming technology was showcased at the iPhone12 launch – in developing a new ultra-low latency stream. It means streams from RMG racecourses are at least under one second behind live on all devices on the digital platforms of RMG’s bookmaker partners, and we hope that will fall further in the future.
These faster pictures are a significant benefit of RMG’s new Watch & Bet service, to which more than 50 bookmaker brands have signed up, and will also negate the advantage that some, such as drone operators, try to seek in the in-running markets.
While your businesses are entrenched in UK and Irish racing, they also understand the internationalisation of the sport and industry. What is your view of global racing and what fixtures the world over do you think are the sport’s high watermark?
International racing is a very important part of RMG. Working with our international partners, SIS, RMG distributes content to international wagering operators in around 35 countries, catering for both Tote and fixed-odds wagering. It brings in significant revenues, particularly from Australia, the U.S., Italy, and South Africa.
Another key territory is the Far East, namely Hong Kong and Japan, where we enjoy close relationships with the HKJC and JRA, with a view to their respective governments approving some of our major races for broadcast and wagering in those countries.
Our non-betting international arm distributed RMG racing to around 125 countries via 35 broadcasters in 2020, including Fox Sports in the U.S. for the first time. In terms of high-watermark fixtures, I am biased, but I think the Dubai World Cup Carnival is right up there. RMG oversees the production and distribution of Meydan’s television coverage. The 2020-21 season was the sixth consecutive year we have been involved and the experience and learnings there contributed to enhancing our production and presentation of our domestic racing.
Also, RMG is synonymous with quality – five of the world’s top-rated 11 races are shown on Racing TV – so we can support our international partners with content in building the prestige of their premier events, be it the Hong Kong International Races, the Spring Carnival in Australia or the Japan Cup.
Which territories and racing jurisdictions do you think are potentially untapped from a commercial or media rights point of view?
Clearly, everyone is queuing up to get involved with China should gambling restrictions ever be lifted there, and there are other countries in South-East Asia, where racing is popular, but similarly, there is legislation which currently makes it difficult for us to get involved.
One consequence of RMG having a large international footprint means there are fewer big opportunities available. A change in legislation in Italy last year has created an opportunity to expand our coverage in the territory, which we are pursuing. Current sports betting developments in the U.S. are interesting and important for the future and we are monitoring that market closely from a horseracing perspective. India remains with potential, although differing state legislation brings challenges. We are also hoping to be more active in Africa.
Can you tell me about how international viewers can subscribe to Racing TV and what it can offer them over the domestic carriers?
International viewers, who don’t have a UK or ROI (Republic of Ireland) address, can subscribe to Racing TV here. We believe Racing TV offers many points of difference over other racing broadcasters, such as minimal advertising, low-latency pictures, high-end production, evidenced by the new Virtual Studio and in-race timing information, the best presenters – Nick Luck and Lydia Hislop are the two most recent racing broadcasters of the year in the UK – and most importantly, the best racing, with 90 percent of all Grade and Group 1s in UK and Ireland on one channel.
Are you currently satisfied with the value of the rights agreements that RMG has in place? What are you targeting to build more value?
We are always looking to drive more value in our rights, but to do that, we need to keep investing and innovating in our product. Streaming is one of racing’s biggest platforms for engaging with fans and will be a key part of the future.
Which other sports and broadcast products are you watching for inspiration?
I am a big football fan and I think BT Sport does this very well. Seeing how other sports and broadcasters innovate to engage sports fans more is a key part of what we are thinking about. Some of the recent America’s Cup coverage has been excellent in showing what can be done and F1 does a great job of presenting data in a way that really adds to the coverage.
What do you think is unique about RMG that sets it apart from other operations in the field?
RMG is very much a ‘Racing’ business. It was created by racecourses with 100 percent of its profits going back to the racecourse shareholders and of course there is no ‘leakage’. Our sole purpose is to deliver the best possible return for our racecourses, which, in turn, benefits the sport.
What really sets RMG apart is its collective ethos and approach to commercialising our racecourses’ media and data rights. We are, of course, dependent on the compelling content generated from the racecourses we broadcast from, and it is a real privilege to be charged with managing their media and data rights.
I am proud to say we have a first-rate, loyal team, with deep expertise and knowledge in horseracing and media rights. Under the direction of the RMG Board, we couldn’t be better placed to drive the business forward.