Racecourse operation Arena Racing Company announced that it agreed to a deal to "acquire Newcastle and Sunderland greyhound stadiums from William Hill," according to Dominic Walsh of the LONDON TIMES. The acquisition, for an estimated sum of more than £10M ($13M), "follows the collapse at the eleventh hour of a sale to Sports Information Services," a specialist broadcaster that supplies live racing pictures and data to betting shops. ARC, which has 16 racecourses, including Lingfield Park and Uttoxeter, said that it was "also joining Greyhound Media Group, a group that sells the media rights of 12 greyhound tracks to betting shops." None of the parties "would comment on why the sale of SIS had fallen through" (LONDON TIMES, 5/23). RACING POST's Bill Barber reported the moves are the "latest in the media rights merry-go-round" involving the U.K.'s betting-shop market and are "set to strengthen" new betting-shop channel The Racing Partnership in which ARC is the "driving force." SIS has the rights to distribute Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service content until the end of this year but it would "appear likely that TRP will take over those rights" from the start of '18. ARC said that it will "take over the operational running of both greyhound stadiums and responsibility for the 160 employees across the two sites" (RACING POST, 5/22).