29th October 2021 - Australia’s most celebrated horse racing and entertainment event – the Lexus Melbourne Cup (Tuesday, 2nd November) – will in 2021, not only have a strong worldwide audience but also thousands of fans returning to Flemington Racecourse. HBA Media have worked closely with the Victoria Racing Club, to generate significant global broadcast interest in the ‘Race that Stops the Nation’.
Leading network Sky Sports (UK) will broadcast all four days of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, while Fox Sports (USA) will exclusively broadcast the Lexus Melbourne Cup in the USA, utilising a bespoke two-hour world-feed production to a potential audience in excess of 80 million.
To support the live broadcasts, HBA Media and the VRC will produce two preview programmes and a highlights programme to further enhance the reach of the event; and to allow broadcasters increased optionality when they promote the Lexus Melbourne Cup to their audiences.
Australia’s feature raceday will once again retain a strong European footprint who will showcase the European contenders that have headed ‘down under’ as they chase a slice of the $8 million prize pool. These include Match TV (Russia), Silknet (Georgia), Polsat (Poland), BEIN (Turkey), NENT (Scadinavia), Setanta (Balkans and Eurasia) and Sport TV (Portugal).
Full global distribution includes:
- Africa and MENA: Super Sport (Africa) and Dubai Racing Channel (UAE)
- North and South America: Fox Sports 1 (America), TSN (Canada), Pan-regional broadcasters ESPN Latin-America (Latam and Caribbean) and SportsMax (Caribbean)
- Europe: Sky Sports Racing (UK and Ireland), Match TV (Russia), SILKNET (Georgia), POLSAT (Poland), BEIN (Turkey), NENT (Scandinvia), Setanta (Balkans and Eurasia) and Sport TV (Portugal)
- Asia Pacific: Channel 10 (Australia), Astro (Malaysia), Wuhan TV / Shanghai TV / Beijing TV (China) and Fiji TV (Fiji).
Reuters and Sports Confidential will ensure further reach with news and delayed programming support worldwide.
Nick Addison, Executive General Manager of Commercial Operations at the Victoria Racing Club, said: “The VRC is focused on building a broad audience ecosystem to optimise the global reach of the Melbourne Cup Carnival via multiple distribution channels.
“HBA Media plays a critical role in helping us achieve our goals and we are very fortunate to, through our partnership, receive the benefit of their unparalleled expertise across the global sporting media landscape”.
Henry Birtles, Chief Executive of HBA Media, added: “We are thrilled to have worked with the VRC on expanding their content slate, which adds significant value to broadcasters. We are delighted to have provided the VRC with strong worldwide coverage and welcome Fox Sports to our broadcaster stable for the Lexus Melbourne Cup.”
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