LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The sport of horse racing may be in decline. But don’t tell that to the 17.7 million people who watched the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
That’s the biggest Derby TV audience since 1989 — when Sunday Silence was the star and ABC still carried the broadcast. It’s also the largest since NBC took over the event in 2001. And for 15 magical minutes Saturday evening, 21.8 million viewers tuned in to watch Sovereignty hold off Journalism in the stretch.
So why does this race endure?
The days of horse racing and boxing dominating the sports pages are long gone. In fact, the sports pages themselves are nearly gone.
It’s not the sport. The Breeders’ Cup draws a fraction of the Derby audience. So does the Belmont Stakes — even when a Triple Crown is on the line.
It can’t be just the tradition, though that surely helps.
The Kentucky Derby has become a rare convergence of betting, nostalgia, celebrity and spectacle. One day a year, it punches above its weight — culturally, commercially, and emotionally.
NBC deserves some credit. Its coverage — even without Mike Tirico, who had to leave Churchill Downs after a nut allergy reaction — delivered a polished, accessible broadcast. Peacock also saw record streaming numbers, with nearly a million viewers on average, up 34% from a year ago.
Consider the company it kept:
- The NCAA men’s basketball championship averaged 18.1 million viewers — just a nose ahead of the Derby, which peaked higher.
- Rory McIlroy’s stirring Sunday at the Masters drew 12.4 million, peaking at just over 19 million.
- The Derby became NBC’s most-watched Saturday program since the NFL Wild Card playoffs in January 2024.
NBC’s first Derby broadcast in 2001 lasted just 90 minutes. This year, it stretched to more than seven hours across platforms — a reflection of how much bigger the event has become, even as the sport around it is grasping for a share of the national sports landscape
Given that, there’s no question that most Derby viewers aren’t horse racing fans. They’re tuning in for the tradition, the fashion, the moment — and NBC has learned how to deliver that experience without assuming the audience speaks fluent thoroughbred.
NBC debuted dual drones, cinematic RED cameras, and multiple finish-line angle cams this year — not for a playoff series or Olympic event, but for a two-minute horse race. The production is becoming as much a spectacle as the sport.
The sport, for a variety of reasons, is fighting for relevance most days of the year. But the Derby? Somehow, it still breathes fire.
It’s a visual feast, made for TV. Seven hours of anticipation, two minutes of payoff — and lately, a growing audience that seems happy to keep showing up for it.
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