ARC Appoints Brendan Parnell As Managing Director of Media and International

Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) can today announce the appointment of Brendan Parnell as Managing Director of Media and International. As Britain’s largest racing group, ARC operates sixteen racecourses and five greyhound stadia. In addition, ARC owns The Racing Partnership (“TRP”), and is a shareholder in both Sky Sports Racing and Premier Greyhound Racing.

Brendan Parnell has a depth of experience of both the racing and betting industries in his native Australia, most recently as Chief Executive Officer of Racing Queensland. Prior to this role, Brendan was Chief Operating Officer, Wagering at Tatts Group, and Managing Director, International at Tabcorp as well as roles in broadcast at Sky.

In his new role at ARC, which he will start in Spring 2023, Brendan will be responsible for ARC’s media rights strategy, encompassing the retail and online gambling sectors, as well as the ongoing development of international business.  Brendan will relocate to the UK, where he will be based from ARC’s Head Office in Central London.

Brendan Parnell said, “I am delighted to take up this role at ARC, and look forward to getting underway in early 2023. I have enjoyed a long career across media, wagering and international business, especially my time at Racing Queensland, but the opportunity to get involved in British horse and greyhound racing, on an international level, is hugely exciting.”

ARC Chairman, David Thorpe, said, “Brendan brings with him a wealth of experience in both the racing and betting worlds in Australia. His senior leadership roles across both industries, as well in broadcast with Sky will be hugely valuable to ARC, and we look forward to welcoming him to the team.”

About ARC:

Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) is the largest racecourse operator in the UK.

ARC is made up of the following sixteen racecourses: Bath, Brighton, Chepstow, Doncaster, Ffos Las, Fontwell Park, Great Yarmouth, Hereford, Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Royal Windsor, Sedgefield, Southwell, Uttoxeter, Wolverhampton and Worcester.

In addition to racecourses ARC owns Central Park, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sunderland and Perry Barr Greyhound Stadia and looks after the media interests of the Greyhound Media Group (“GMG”).

ARC runs four of the six all-weather racecourses in the UK offering two different types of surface for horses to run on: Polytrack at Lingfield Park and tapeta at Newcastle, Southwell and Wolverhampton Racecourses – the only tapeta racing surfaces in Europe.

In 2013 ARC pioneered the All-Weather Championships which see horses compete throughout the winter for the chance of qualifying for Finals Day on Good Friday at Newcastle, and the All-Weather Vase at Lingfield Park.

ARC hosts racing at all levels of the sport from Class 6 through to Group 1s. Doncaster Racecourse is home to the world’s oldest Classic, the Cazoo St Leger, run each year in September as part of the four-day Cazoo St Leger Festival as well as the final Group 1 of the year in Britain, the Vertem Futurity Trophy. Feature jumps races include the Grade 1 Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle Racecourse, the Coral Welsh Grand National at Chepstow Racecourse and Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter Racecourse.

As well as racing, ARC also operates a hotel at Wolverhampton Racecourse, a hotel and golf course at Lingfield Park and The Border Minstrel public house at Newcastle Racecourse in the grounds of Gosforth Park. The Hilton Garden Inn Doncaster Racecourse opened in September 2018.

ARC is a significant shareholder in the horseracing TV channel Sky Sports Racing which is broadcast on the Sky platform to c.14 million homes.

ARC plays a pivotal role in British Racing. It is a shareholder in British Champions Series and Racecourse Data Company and is represented on the boards of the Racecourse Association (“RCA”), Great British Racing (“GBR”) and British Champion Series (“BCS”).

In 2015 ARC set up The Racing Partnership. This limited company represents the media rights of the 16 ARC owned-racecourses and the four independent racecourses Hexham, Newton Abbot, Plumpton and Ripon.

Further information about ARC can be found at www.arenaracingcompany.co.uk.

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