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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Hillsboro, Oregon |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | FanDuel Group |
| Sister channels | TVG2 |
| History | |
| Launched | July 14, 1999 (1999-07-14) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
TVG Network ("TVG" being an initialism for its official name Television Games Network) is an online horse and greyhound racing betting business and American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by FanDuel Group, the U.S. subsidiary of Irish bookmaker Flutter Entertainment.[1]
Dedicated to horse racing and greyhound racing, in New Jersey it operates the 4NJBets platform on behalf of the state of New Jersey and its racing industry.[2] Since the 2018 acquisition of FanDuel by Flutter (then Paddy Power Betfair) and conversion of the daily fantasy sports provider into its main U.S. subsidiary, the channel has also increasingly included studio programming covering mainstream sports from the perspective of sports betting. Beginning in September 2022, the network will be relaunched as FanDuel TV, as part of a further pivot to sports betting-related programing outside of horse racing.[3]
The channel was launched on July 14, 1999, and was founded as a joint-venture of TV Guide Inc. (which at the time was owned by both Liberty Media and News Corp.), National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and AT&T Broadband.[4]
In May 2006, TVG introduced several new programs to its schedule including Morning Line, Fandicapping, :58 Flat, Lady Luck (an all female panel discussion program focusing on the day's races) and Drive Time (which covered exclusive racing from the Meadowlands). TVG places microphones on select jockeys, owners, trainers, and the starting crew.
The channel formerly operated a fictional betting site, TVGfree.net, which allowed it to have a presence in the fifteen states which prohibit televised and off track betting, operating similarly to poker sites which use the .net domain to differentiate their fictional betting sites from the .com sites which allow real gambling. The site was discontinued at the start of 2012 due to a site upgrade, and currently redirects to TVG.com.
In the end of February 2007, TVG ended its longtime affiliation with Churchill Downs Incorporated. On May 2, 2008, Gemstar-TV Guide was acquired by Macrovision (now TiVo Corporation) for $2.8 billion.
Macrovision, which purchased Gemstar-TV Guide mostly to boost the value of its lucrative VCR Plus+ and electronic program guide patents, later stated that it was considering a sale of TVG, TV Guide Network and the TV Guide print edition's namesake to other parties.
In the end of 2008, Macrovision sold TVG to Betfair for $50 million in cash consideration. The deal was consummated on January 27, 2009, separating the channel from the company which acquired its founding owner in 2007.[5] In February 2015, Betfair acquired TVG's sole competitor, HRTV, and began to consolidate it into TVG's facilities. The network was re branded as a sister network, TVG2, in October 2015.[6][7][8]
In July 2018, with the removal of restrictions on U.S. states' ability to offer sports betting, the network announced that it was developing studio programs dedicated to the subject. Paddy Power Betfair had recently acquired daily fantasy sports service FanDuel, with an intent to use it as its U.S. subsidiary. On September 9, 2018, coinciding with the 2018 NFL season, TVG Network premiered the new Sunday morning programs The Barstool Sports Advisors and More Ways to Win.[9][10]
The network saw an increase in prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the shutdown of nearly all other live sports prompted increased interest in horse racing and off-track betting from tracks that remain active; the limited tracks available resulted in greater prominence given to smaller tracks and meets such as Nebraska's Fonner Park and Oklahoma's Will Rogers Downs, and the network's personalities made efforts to accommodate new viewers and explain the technical terminology associated with horse racing and wagers. TVG also reached an agreement with the mainstream sports channel NBCSN (which reaches at least 80 million homes, as opposed to TVG's 45 million) to simulcast a block of Trackside Live on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons.[11]
In July 2022, it was reported that FanDuel was considering a relaunch of TVG Network as FanDuel TV as early as September 2022, with plans for the channel to add a morning block of sports betting-oriented talk shows, as well as sports news segments interspersed throughout its live racing block. Such a service would compete against VSiN, which is owned by FanDuel's main U.S. competitor DraftKings.[12][13][14]
On August 25, 2002, FanDuel officially confirmed that it would relaunch as FanDuel TV in September 2022 and would introduce new programming including a live, weekday program hosted by former NFL Network host Kay Adams, shows developed by sports personality and former NFL punter Pat McAfee's PMI Network, and live games from Australia's National Basketball League, the Chinese Basketball Association, the LNB in France and the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany as part of a licensing deal with Sportradar.[15]
TVG offers wagering services to residents of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey (under 4NJBets), New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.[16] TVG account holders are able to wager online at TVG.com, or by landline or mobile phone.
TVG covers over one hundred tracks, with exclusive coverage of several tracks, including North American tracks such as Woodbine Race Course, Keeneland Race Course, Del Mar Racetrack, Meadowlands, and Monmouth Park. The network also broadcasts races from various tracks in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom
TVG coverage includes events, such as the Travers Stakes, Haskell Invitational, Pacific Classic, Hollywood Gold Cup, Blue Grass Stakes, Wood Memorial, Melbourne Cup, Japan Cup and the All American Futurity.
