The 2022 G1 Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup was broadcast for the first time on Fox Sports in the U.S. on Friday and was named a “resounding success”. Rachael Blackmore triumphed aboard A Plus Tard (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}) at Cheltenham Racecourse, and the experience impressed American television executives. Fox Sports, working with HBA Media and racecourse Media Group, took the Racing TV feed, fronted by Nick Luck, for an hour around the Gold Cup.
Tony Allevato, the Chief Revenue Officer of NYRA, who was experiencing the Cheltenham Festival for the first time, said, “Through our partnerships with HBA Media and Racecourse Media Group, we televised the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Fox Sports, which goes into 55 million homes. It was the first time the race was shown on national TV in the US.
“Fox broadcasts some of the biggest sporting events in the world, the football World Cup, World Series, Superbowl–and now the Cheltenham Gold Cup. We've had a lot of good feedback and it was a resounding success.
“Hopefully this is a starting point, and a chance to educate our viewers and get them familiar with Jump racing. We broadcast 900 hours of racing on Fox last year and to add Jump racing to that schedule can only be a positive thing.
“It was my first time to Cheltenham. It's a proper major league sporting event.”
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