UK commercial broadcaster ITV will continue its coverage of the country’s flagship horse racing events after securing a new four-year rights deal.
The new rights agreement, running from 2027 to 2030, will see ITV continue to air top-tier events, including the Grand National, Royal Ascot, the Cheltenham Festival, and the Derby across its ITV1, ITV4, and STV linear channels, as well as on streaming services STV Player and ITVX.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Along with 117 days of live coverage per year, ITV will continue to showcase its morning racing program, The Opening Show.
ITV has aired UK horse racing since 2017, and its current contract, signed in 2023, is set to expire at the end of 2026.
ITV director of sport Niall Sloane said: “This is a vital deal for ITV Sport and UK horse racing, ensuring the very best fixtures across the UK are available free-to-air on ITV until 2030.
“We are proud to deliver so much live coverage of this incredible sport and would like to thank Racecourse Media Group, The Jockey Club, Arena Racing Company, Ascot Racecourse, and our other partners, and we look forward to continuing our relationship for years to come.”
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe new rights deal comes as ITV announces high viewership for its horse racing coverage for 2025, generating over streams on ITVX in 2025 so far
ITV said viewership for the Grand National reached a peak audience of 5.2 million, while its five-day coverage of Royal Ascot drew a total of 5 million viewers, with final day viewership up by over 20% from the previous edition.
The Cheltenham Festival saw a viewership of 1.8 million for the final day – the highest in four years, while the Derby also clocked a high audience figure of 1.3 million.
RMG chief executive Nick Mills said: “British horseracing will again receive extensive mainstream terrestrial television coverage across 117 days – an exceptional level of visibility that allows millions of racing fans to watch the best the sport has to offer.”
Brant Dunshea, acting chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, added: “ITV have shown themselves to be first-class broadcast partners, not only in terms of the quality of their coverage but in bringing more and more racing to mainstream terrestrial audiences.
“It is also exciting to consider what the future can hold in terms of working together around innovation in the broadcast experience, with growth in engagement with racing and attracting and retaining our audiences being a core area of focus for the sport’s industry strategy.”
Meanwhile, ITV has also entered into a new deal with international electric car racing series Formula E.
An extension unveiled earlier this week takes the agreement between the pair through to 2027, covering the 12th and 13th Formula E seasons.
It adds to the pair's existing deal, which got underway in late 2024, originally as a one-season affair.
The deal has been disclosed with the 2025-26 Formula E season set to start in early December, and will take in 18 races across 12 worldwide cities.
All 18 events will be broadcast either on the ITV4 linear channel or on the ITVX streaming service. Formula E has stated that during the coming season, more races will be shown by ITV4 than ever before.
The 2025-26 season begins in São Paulo, Brazil, with other new destinations including Madrid (Spain) and Miami (USA).
Jonathan Salt, vice president, media, at Formula E, has commented on the tie-up with ITV: "Our extended partnership with ITV is fantastic news for Formula E fans across the UK and Ireland, ensuring that the thrill of the FIA Formula E World Championship remains free and accessible to the widest possible audience."
In terms of other Formula E broadcast rights deals for 2025-26, media and entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will provide pan-European coverage of the season.
Richard Botchway, ITV Sport's assistant commissioner, added: "It’s an incredibly exciting time for Formula E and we are proud to continue our partnership with them for a further two years."
In late July, Formula E announced a major long-term extension to its operational agreement with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) governing body, securing its future for over 20 years.
The series’ current agreement with the FIA runs through 2038, but the new 10-year extension will bring the pair’s relationship through 2048. The deal ensures Formula E remains the sole all-electric racing series in the single-seater racing category, preventing any future competitors.
