Live Racing Broadcasts Exported
The Korea Racing Authority (KRA) said on July 6 that it has extended its horse racing export contract with the US, the world's top-class horse racing country, following its entry into the UK in June. The contract will be signed by Sky Racing World, a US-based racing distributor.
The KRA signed the first contract with Sky Racing World in August last year. It has since exported live broadcasts of 10 races per day for three days a week on average, earning 9.4 billion won (US$8.4 million) in sales over the past 10 months despite harsh conditions, including time zone differences between the two countries.
"Since we began to export our horse racing broadcasts in 2014, all of the importing countries have extended their contracts with us until now," said Kim Nak-soon, chairman of the KRA. "This means local customers have made a positive assessment of Korean horse races. It also indicates that the quality of Korea horse races is not inferior to that of advanced countries."
In the meantime, the KRA has been exporting Korean horse races to developed horse race countries of the world since 2014, including Australia, the US and Hong Kong and Singapore. In recent years, Korea has succeeded in exporting horse races to four European countries including the UK, which is the country from which horse race originated. As of 2018, the KRA is exporting Korean races to 12 countries.