Savill calls for unity as deal faces collapse

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The £320 million deal to sell British racecourses' media rights to Go Racing, a consortium which includes Channel 4, BSkyB and Arena Leisure, appeared doomed last night, after last-minute negotiations between Go Racing and the British Horseracing Board failed to resolve an impasse on the price to be paid by Go Racing for the BHB's pre-race data rights.

Neither side wanted to be the first to pronounce the deal dead yesterday but, with the BHB refusing to put a precise value on its rights, or to offer a licence for their use throughout the entire 10-year span of the deal, and Go Racing equally adamant that it cannot proceed without both, it is impossible to see how the deadlock can be resolved.

Arena Leisure, a minority partner in Go Racing, is due to hold a meeting of shareholders on Monday to approve the deal. At least one "final" deadline for the resolution of outstanding issues, in advance of the meeting, has already passed. There is unlikely to be another.

Speaking at the BHB's annual general meeting in London yesterday, Peter Savill, the BHB chairman, said that the collapse of the deal would be "unfortunate but not a disaster". Savill has long been frustrated that the deal was negotiated directly between the Racecourse Association and Go Racing, with no direct input from the BHB. Its failure, he said, proved that a more unified approach was necessary.

"It is up to the racecourses," he said. "They can decide how to play it and they can go into their shell. But my belief is we should learn the lessons of the past 12 months. If you don't have a unified approach, there is no alternative but to make a fool of yourself. This industry has got to sort itself out, we will having nothing but internecine warfare unless it pulls together."

Savill was also sceptical of claims that Channel 4 might abandon all terrestrial racing coverage if the Go Racing contract runs aground.

"Channel 4 have built up a considerable commercial brand," he said, "and I think to walk away would be extremely poor commercial sense. This industry would still have fairly substantial terrestrial coverage even if Channel 4 did pull out, and you can't run an industry on threats."

Chris Stoddart, the chief executive of Go Racing, admitted last night that time is fast running out. "There's no movement, and I know of nothing to suggest any movement from them or from me," he said.

"They won't even give us a range [for the cost of the pre-race data], and I need to know what it is. There's a lot of money at stake, the risks are high and, to have this when we've had to swallow hard quite a few times already, in the end you just say, 'Why should we do it?'. "

The failure of the deal will result in immense anger and frustration among Britain's racecourses. Whether they will now be able to put that to one side, and join with Savill in his "unified" approach, seems doubtful, to say the least.