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Attheraces Breathes its Last

Racing channel to cease broadcasting next monday

Thursday 25th March 2004



Every horse has its year and Attheraces, sadly, has announced its intention to stop broadcasting British Racing events as of Monday. Hopes were high for the channel which, in June 2001 signed a massive £307 million contract with forty-nine of Britain’s fifty-nine racecourses, but it wasn’t long before financial difficulties set in.

The main problem was Tote betting margins which proved to be far less profitable than the company had forseen; and now, less than three years after its launch, attheraces has given up the chase.

Ian Hogg, the company’s managing director said: “As it stands, we will have no choice but to shut down. The channel has been of considerable benefit to the racing industry in this country and remains the industry’s only viable option.'

It will be a bad day for the betting exchanges as well, who rely on pictures from attheraces to attract customers. 'The only loser in this will be racing and if there is any prospect of a midnight resolution it should be grasped,' said Rob Hartnett of Betdaq.




Source: OnlineCasinoNews