RACING TV will continue to be broadcast into Irish homes for at least a year, even if the Gambling Regulation Bill is signed into law, which is expected to happen next week.

The Bill prohibits gambling advertising from being shown on television during daylight hours, a move which Racing TV says would make it economically unviable for the channel to continue to be offered to Irish viewers.

The Irish Field understands it might not be until 2026 before the ban kicks in as when the Bill is passed all bookmakers will have to be relicensed under the new Act, a process which could take until the end of 2025 to complete at the very earliest.

Earlier this week Sky Sports Racing revealed its intention to launch a dedicated Irish feed which would comply with the Bill by not showing any betting advertisements during daylight hours.

Sky broadcasts live pictures from 25 British tracks and it shows a lot of major international races, such as this weekend’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe fixture and the upcoming Breeders’ Cup meeting.

But all Irish racing is shown exclusively by Racing TV as part of the media rights deal signed by Horse Racing Ireland, the Association of Irish Racecourses, SIS and Racing TV’s parent company RMG last year.

Racing TV, which also has the direct-to-home media rights for most of the top tracks in Britain, has approximately 65,000 residential and commercial subscribers, the vast majority in Britain where there is no restrictions on broadcasting betting adverts.

The channel has consistently said it would not be economically viable for it to create a separate Irish stream with no betting adverts, explaining that it did not use the same technology as Sky.

The current media rights deal is due to run for five years and Horse Racing Ireland – along with other industry stakeholders – has pleaded with James Browne, the Minister for State at the Department of Justice, to exclude dedicated racing channels from the proposed gambling advertising ban.

Those calls were rejected by the Minister who has been dogged in his shepherding of the Bill through the Oireachtas. The legislation was fast-tracked through the Seanad this week and could become law as early as next Wednesday, ahead of an anticipated general election.