Racecourse Media Group payments hit record £118.4 million despite headwinds

Record media payments are not just a balance-sheet win for British racing. They are the money behind fuller prize funds, stronger race-day cards and, at a time when the sport is fighting turnover pressure and tighter regulation, a reminder that the product on the track still has commercial pull. Racecourse Media Group said it delivered £118.4 million to its shareholder racecourses from media and data rights in 2025, a new high-water mark that also pushed £107 million back into prize money across those courses.

The size of the rebound matters because it came after two softer years. RMG paid out £113.9 million in 2023 and £113 million in 2024, leaving the business close to flat while affordability checks and other headwinds weighed on the market. This year’s total was up about 4.8 percent on 2024 and edged past the previous record of £117.6 million set in 2022. In other words, the group did not just stop the slide. It moved above the old peak.

That makes the broader business question unavoidable: is this a clean recovery or a cyclical bounce in a fragile model? RMG said the money was generated by the performance of the tracks’ media and data rights, with revenue flowing through betting-shop streaming, Racing TV, international betting and non-betting distribution, mainstream television and pre-race data. Those channels still matter because they are the pipes that connect British racing to daily bettors, pubs, homes and overseas audiences. Racing TV reaches about 55,000 residential subscribers and 10,000 pubs and clubs, while RMG says its international service can reach as many as 12 million homes across major TV and streaming platforms.

The rights picture also gives the sport some runway. RMG said its media-rights renewals run through December 31, 2028, and ITV has already agreed a four-year deal to continue exclusive free-to-air UK racing from 2027 through 2030, covering 117 live days a year. That does not solve racing’s structural problems, but it does buy time, visibility and a degree of stability for fixtures and coverage quality.

Conor Grant, who joined as a non-executive director in April 2023 before becoming chair in October 2023, said the result reflected the quality and creativity of RMG’s content, the strength of its partnerships and its disciplined commercial approach. Nick Mills pointed to the work of racecourses, staff, presenters, pundits, freelancers and betting and commercial partners. The shareholder base now stands at 37 British racecourses, up from 35 in 2023, which underlines how central the RMG model remains to the sport’s finances. The numbers are encouraging, but British racing still lives with a simple truth: media money can lift the product, yet the product must keep earning its keep.