Sky Racing and TVN insist that broadcast negotiations will continue despite Wednesday’s dramatic turn of events which saw Sky Racing lose racing rights for Victorian and New South Wales racing with immediate effect, reports Racing Victoria.

Two years’ worth of negotiations broke down with rights holder TVN unable to come to terms with broadcaster Sky Racing on either a long-term or a rolling deal, meaning TVN is now the only Pay-TV broadcaster of Victoria and NSW thoroughbred racing.

TVN CEO Bruce Mann spoke to Racing Ahead on RSN on Thursday morning and re-iterated that TVN’s stakeholders simply wanted a ‘fair go’ in terms of the new deal.

“We have been protracted negotiations for nearly two years and we have worked in good faith to get an acceptable outcome. We put an offer to Sky which we thought was more than reasonable and they decide not to extend,” Mann said.

“Racing is simply looking for a fair go. If you look globally and you look at where media rights are being sold, there is an upward trend in the value of live sport. It’s just a fact, worldwide. TVN has been open to accepting less than we get today even though world-wide trends are growing. But in that space we still can’t get a fair go.”

Mann compared TVN’s situation through the negotiation process to that of someone auctioning a house with just one bidder.

“If you have one potential client and you are the seller. If you remain apart, and there is no-one else in the room, then the buyer isn’t moving. Even if the buyer is asking for something well under reserve and in this case inappropriate for what we think the rights are,” he said.

But despite the impasse, Mann remains willing to reach a deal with Sky. 

“The door remains open and always remains open,” he said. “I am actively looking for distribution of my rights. If they want a meeting, they will get one.”

Sky Racing CEO Brendan Parnell admitted there was some way to go in terms of negotiations, but that there were immediate steps in place to find a resolution.

“We’ve said right throughout we’ll pay more if there is more value and we operate in a different environment now than we did nine or ten years ago. The package that’s on the table for TVN has the ability for TVN to earn more,” Parnell said.

“We haven’t walked away from the table. We are due to meet with TVN later today and continue our focus on progressing the right long-term deal which is good for racing and wagering.”

Live Victorian and NSW racing is available on TVN, racingnetwork and associated tablet and mobile applications and will be made available on racing.com in the near future.