William Hill flogs two greyhound stadiums to ARC
UK bookmaker had originally agreed a deal in February to sell Newcastle and Sunderland stadia to SIS
William Hill has signed a deal to sell Newcastle and Sunderland greyhound stadiums to Arena Racing Company (ARC), despite reaching an agreement with SIS earlier this year.
The racecourse group will take over the operational running of both stadiums, which host 520 greyhound racing fixtures a year, after coming in with a counter-offer in recent weeks.
ARC has also joined forces with Greyhound Media Group which will now represent the media rights of 12 greyhound tracks and, with the addition of Newcastle and Sunderland, now represents nearly 70% of the greyhound fixtures shown in licensed betting offices.
“We are really delighted to have moved at pace and acquire the tracks and join our new partners at GMG as part of a long-term deal,” Martin Cruddace, chief executive of ARC, said.
“We very much look forward to working with the great teams at both stadiums and developing our relationship with the greyhound industry.”
Brent Dolan, director of operations at GMG, added: “We are very pleased to welcome ARC and are delighted that they see the merit of working closely together in producing what we aim to be the best greyhound racing available anywhere in the world.
“We look forward to working with BAGS to continue to produce a cost effective and value product for the UK LBO market and to export GMG racing worldwide.”
SIS had originally agreed terms to acquire the stadia in February, which was widely expected to be completed by the end of this month.