When the majestic White Abarrio stormed over the line to win the $3m Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January, the racehorse’s victory was celebrated far beyond Florida’s Gulfstream Park.
While the packed stands, including Mike Tyson, Paul Pogba and other Miami-based celebrities cheered on, sports fans were tuning in and perhaps even enjoying their winnings in every corner of the world.
The Pegasus World Cup is one of the most diverse and entertaining events in US horse racing and holds a special place in the calendar, coming so early in the year. It also drops the flag on the 2025 Crown Jewels Racing series, which packages together the world’s best races following an unprecedented media rights collaboration brought together by HBA Media, the horse racing-focused agency, and rights-holders from Miami to Melbourne, and Riyadh to Ascot.
The Crown Jewels Racing (CJR) series ensures that these blue-chip events can be viewed, enjoyed and wagered on by more and more racing fans worldwide.
HBA Media developed the CJR brand to offer fans, broadcasters, sponsors and brands a season of top-level international racing throughout 12 months of the year. Importantly, whether it is the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, or Breeders’ Cup Classic or the Hong Kong Cup, those tuning in across 175 territories will be presented with coverage that has consistent production and branding values.
CJR is HBA Media’s premium offering to the top sports networks and is an extension of HBA’s core business: ensuring the sport of horse racing is nurtured and grown amongst a competitive media rights sporting landscape. HBA prioritises the interests of the federations that they represent, distributing over 500+ hours per year of horse racing content to channels around the world, specialising much of its business in the Middle East.
According to HBA Media’s chairman and founder Henry Birtles, this offering has been years in the making. He cites the combination of growing global interest with rights-holders understanding the value of their events if they are packaged as part of a year-long, premium product.
“It’s been quite a long journey for racing in terms of general acknowledgement from the sports media industry,” said Birtles.
“Racing has an incredible history. Its stories and the emotions it invokes made it hugely popular with mass appeal, but it fell away in the 1990s and early 2000s. We believe it has made huge leaps of late, and the CJR brand can take it right back to the top.”
Founded by Birtles in the 2000s, HBA Media has developed a reputation as a trusted partner and adviser. Importantly, it has sought to expand racing’s horizons and work with top-tier networks that have traditionally not prioritised the sport – and the resulting shift has been dramatic.
A decade ago, 80 per cent of HBA Media’s distribution was to dedicated horse racing channels. At the start of 2025, the majority of its 25-plus broadcast partners are sports channels and platforms that show racing alongside top-tier football, basketball and tennis content. ESPN (Latin America and the Caribbean), Virgin Media (Ireland), FanCode (India), Sportsnet (Canada) and SuperSport (Africa) are just some of the networks that will be showing the CJR events this year.
The broadcasters are reaping the benefits of their punt on racing, with HBA Media’s long-term broadcast partners seeing audience growth of 20 per cent across a five-year period.
“Across the years, HBA’s USP has been a thorough understanding of the sport of horse racing, the challenges it faces and where it fits in the wider sports media landscape,” said HBA Media chief executive Frank Sale. “Racing hasn’t been at the top in terms of demand, but that dial has been moving. Over the last 10 years we’ve aggregated the best of the best in terms of media rights and changed how the sport is received in mainstream sports networks.”
HBA Media’s partners have benefited tangibly from the agency’s expertise and ability to entice major broadcasters. The company was confident that wider exposure would ultimately drive an increase in interest and lead to a rise in media rights fees – complementing already-high wagering revenues for federations.
Whilst many segments of the sports media sector bemoan cooler market conditions, HBA Media has delivered its partners a mean average increase in non-MENA rights fees of around 100 per cent since 2019. Ascot is one HBA Media partner that has benefitted from this surge in exposure, with the number of broadcasters showing the CJR’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes tripling between 2021 and 2024.
The success of HBA Media partners’ flagship events has also enticed broadcasters to acquire additional ‘non CJR’ horse racing throughout the season. This growth in interest means that Goodwood Racecourse’s feature event – the Qatar Sussex Stakes – has been an integral part of CJR since inception. On the back of CJR, broadcast clients have expanded their offering for Goodwood to not just include one race, but the entire five days.
Sale added: “We’ve proven that the aggregation of the best of the best works and every federation has benefited in terms of exposure, media rights and commercial returns, particularly non-wagering.”
While HBA Media has taken racing to a brave new world, some things do not change. At its heart, the agency shares the passion of the rights-holders and the audience. Birtles is a turf man through-and-through, whose eyes sparkle when he speaks of Dancing Brave and Denman.
That combination of passion and expertise has seen HBA Media expand its services over time. As a trusted partner and advocate of the sport, the agency has developed a fantasy game with Genius Sports that is designed to enhance fan engagement during CJR broadcast, particularly among younger viewers.
HBA Media has also moved into production, ensuring that the best possible product is being broadcast by its media partners. Occupying an executive producer role, HBA Media has developed CJR90 – a bespoke 90-minute programme that is long enough to showcase the significance of the sporting event, but short enough that it retains mass appeal. The headline race remains the central focus, but the programme also captures an additional race alongside the sense of atmosphere, entertainment and culture.
“Attendances for major races have been huge and betting turnover is significant, but racing has barriers to entry, particularly within younger demographics,” said Sale. “Even the terminology and traditions can be off-putting for a mass audience. With the CJR90 concept, we have developed a relaxed show that appeals to both the casual viewer and racing connoisseur.”
Racing fans will be tuning in from all over the world to watch this month’s $20m Saudi Cup on Saturday, 22nd February before the CJR series continues in April with the Aintree Grand National and Dubai World Cup. Momentum is key, and there is now a vehicle to showcase the sport’s greatest events for a global audience whether they are making their fantasy game picks or simply enjoying the thrills of an epic race.
To find out more about the work HBA Media do, visit their website.
