22nd February 2022 – For the third consecutive year, HBA Media have expanded the global broadcast distribution for the much-anticipated Saudi Cup, which takes place this Saturday, 26th February at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.

Reflecting the Saudi Cup’s growing standing within the global horseracing calendar and its newly appointed Grade One status, HBA Media have attracted seven new broadcast partners for 2022 , with over 30 individual broadcasters distributing coverage into over 150 territories worldwide .

Fox Sports will broadcast all the action into the USA, which will feature the running of Saudi Cup. TVG, the USA horseracing dedicated network, will also showcase the event in full.

Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV will provide coverage in the UK. Virgin Media will broadcast in Ireland on free-to-air, with local audiences hoping Irish-bred Mishriff will become the event’s first ever dual champion.

Audiences across Latin and South America will be eager for a local winner of the event in the form of Brazilian horse Aero Trem, with Disney-owned OTT platform Star+ and ESPN providing strong streaming and linear coverage throughout the region .

In 2022, HBA Media have significantly increased the coverage across Asia and in key territories like China, India and SE Asia.

Sony Pictures Networks will broadcast the Saudi Cup live for the very first time across India and the Indian subcontinent through its linear channels. Eclat will showcase the event across South-East Asia on its linear networks and digital platform, SPOTV. Digital platform Wasu.TV will also broadcast the event into China.

Dubai Media Incorporated will broadcast the event for the first time into the UAE, signalling the Saudi Cup’s growing standing in the region.

After a very successful partnership in 2021, Twitter will again live stream the Saudi Cup within Saudi Arabia, looking to build on the 5.8 million views the event received last year. Saudi TV continue to be the host broadcaster.

European broadcasters continue to see the value of the $20 million dollar race, with RAI (Italy), Match TV (Russia), Polsat (Poland), Nent (Scandinavia), LiveNow (Italy, France and Germany) and Setanta (Balkans and Eurasia) all supporting the event – seeing a total of 15 unique broadcasters taking the event across Europe.

An expanded slate of live and delayed content has been created and distributed by HBA Media to further promote and enhance the value of the Saudi Cup. IMG Productions will produce an innovative five-hour live raceday coverage, alongside a bespoke Golden Hour production that features the live running of the world’s most valuable race.

Broadcasters taking live coverage include:

North and South America, plus the Caribbean: Fox Sports (US), SportsMax (Caribbean), Star+ (Latin America and South America), ESPN (Caribbean and Latin America), TVG (US) and TSN (Canada).

Europe: Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV (UK, ROI), RAI (Italy), Virgin Media (Ireland), LIVENow / Eleven Sports (Italy, France, Germany), Polsat (Poland), Match TV (Russia), Sport TV (Portugal), Setanta (Baltics and Eurasia), Equidia (France), BeIN and Turkey Jockey Club TV (Turkey), NENT (Scandinavia), Silknet (Georgia) and CYTA (Cyprus).

Asia Pacific: Green Channel (Japan), Wasu.TV (China), Sony Pictures Networks (India), Eclat (Pan Regional), Racing.com (Australia) and Spark Sport (New Zealand).

Africa and MENA: DMI (Dubai), Saudi TV (KSA), Twitter (KSA) and Super Sport (South Africa),

News and highlight outlets: Sports Confidential, Reuters and Transworld Sports.

Tom Ryan, Saudi Cup Strategic & International Racing Director, said: “We are pleased that so many people around the world will be able to watch the Saudi Cup on Saturday February 26th, thanks to HBA Media’s distribution. This is an event that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very proud of having launched the race and event from scratch just three years ago. We hope it continues to act as a launch pad to further development of our growing racing industry.”

Frank Sale, Managing Director of HBA Media, said: “The Saudi Cup is firmly established within the international racing calendar and continues to go from strength to strength, not only as a race but as a global sporting event. HBA Media is proud to have delivered an improved global distribution for this year’s event, which reflects the significance of the raceday and sport within Saudi Arabia.”

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