News that the owners of TurfTV, Alphameric, have won a high court battle with the owners of Satellite Information Services (SIS) has seen coverage of the UK horse racing market blown wide open. The move affectively gives TurfTV the green light to dominate the industry for the foreseeable future and places the future of SIS in jeopardy.
TurfTV was in court to hear allegations of price fixing from William Hill and Ladbrokes (the owners of SIS) but the judge ruled that the company had acted in accordance with the law and competition rules when signing up a number of leading racecourses to exclusive deals. However the tables have now been turned on the owners of SIS with the judge set to rule on potential competition issues with regards to alleged threats to withdraw sponsorship from some UK racecourse if they signed up to TurfTV.
SIS has had a virtual monopoly on live horse racing feeds for the last 20 years, supplying the line to all bookmaking shops across the UK. While William Hill and Labrokes allege that the new channel will cost them an extra £50 million a year they, along with the vast majority of other UK players, have already signed up to TurfTV – although they did sign up under duress.
News that the owners of TurfTV, Alphameric, have won a high court battle with the owners of Satellite Information Services (SIS) has seen coverage of the UK horse racing market blown wide open. The move affectively gives TurfTV the green light to dominate the industry for the foreseeable future and places the future of SIS in jeopardy.