NBC Sports

NBC Sports and Ascot Racecourse, home to the Royal Meeting have reached a multi-year agreement to extend NBC Sports's exclusive United States media rights to the event through 2028, the network said in a press release on Friday. NBC Sports--who has been presenting Royal Ascot via linear and digital platforms since 2017--will continue to present live coverage of all 20+ hours of the mid-June meet over its five days (Tuesday-Saturday), with Peacock streaming all coverage live throughout the week, and NBC simulcasting coverage during the event's final day on Saturday....

When I read the announcement from Churchill Downs that the post time for the Kentucky Oaks was being moved to allow the race to be televised in "prime time," my first thought was not of the importance of another race being run in "prime time" but of the disruption this would cause the local restaurant community. As a lover of the Thoroughbred industry, I applaud the track for the way it has grown interest, not just in the Oaks, but the Wednesday and Thursday cards that precede it. But, as...

The most important asset the horse industry has are the brands of the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown. Nothing else comes close in our dying business. Nothing in Major League Baseball, the Indy 500 or the Masters can match the number of TV viewers every year for the Derby. Outside of the Super Bowl (115 million viewers) and the NBA Finals (17.8 million), one couldn't spend enough money to get 16 million TV viewers for a sporting event today in America. When a horse wins the Preakness and the...

NBC Sports' 25th presentation of the Kentucky Derby delivered an NBC Sports-record average of 17.7 million viewers on NBC and Peacock--marking the largest Kentucky Derby audience since 1989 (18.5 million viewers, won by Sunday Silence) and a 6% increase from last year (16.7 million viewers for Mystik Dan's victory in a three-horse photo finish). Viewership peaked at 21.8 million viewers from 7-7:15 p.m. ET, as Sovereignty ran to a 1 1/2-length victory over Journalism. The peak audience was the largest ever for an NBC Sports presentation of the Kentucky Derby...

NBC Sports coverage of Kentucky Derby weekend will kick off Friday, at 1 p.m. with their Kentucky Oaks show on USA Network and Peacock. Saturday, the races on the early Derby Day card will also be televised on NBC and Peacock, starting at noon. At 2:30, coverage switches to NBC. The 2025 "Run for the Roses" marks NBC Sports' milestone 25th presentation of the Kentucky Derby --a show which has grown markedly since NBC's initial 90-minute broadcast in 2001. NBC Sports' Derby Day coverage features 10 races across 7.5 hours--five...

NBC Sports will present live coverage of the GII Louisiana Derby from Fair Grounds Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on CNBC and Peacock. The hour-long program will also feature coverage of the GII Fair Grounds Oaks and the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks from Turfway Park. Ahmed Fareed will host Saturday's coverage alongside analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss. The Louisiana Derby begins three consecutive Saturday afternoons with Kentucky Derby prep coverage live on CNBC and Peacock, continuing with the GI Florida Derby and GI Arkansas Derby Mar. 29 and the...

NBC Sports will broadcast eight live races, including the GIII Robert B. Lewis as champion juvenile Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) kicks off his 2025 campaign, Saturday from 4-6:00 p.m. as part of the "1S/T Racing Tour presented by MyRacehorse", the Florida track announced Friday evening. Coverage will include the GIII Holy Bull and GIII Forward Gal Stakes as well as the Listed Swale and Kitten's Joy Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Santa Anita coverage will comprise of the GIII Robert B. Lewis, GIII Mergahertz, and GII Santa Monica Stakes. It...

Pegasus Day at Gulfstream is one of my most enjoyable days at the races. The melding of great entertainment, world-class horses, and a great vibe shows racing at its best. It is expensive to put on and showcases our sport in the highest light. It is also the most ironic considering the recent announcement regarding the closing of Gulfstream and seeking development absent horse racing. I was perplexed to listen to Belinda Stronach on Pegasus Day speak of the non-compatibility of racing in an urban environment, despite all of the...

The Thoroughbred Daily News's Publisher and CEO Sue Finley and Columnist Chris McGrath both won 2024 Eclipse Media Awards from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), according to a release from the NTRA on Wednesday. The 2024 Media Eclipse Award winners across six categories are as follows: Multimedia - Sue Finley, Thoroughbred Daily News, "After Saving Two Horses from a Kill Pen, Stewart Aims to do More to End Slaughter," July 15, 2024. Sue Finley produced a multimedia piece...

Breeders' Cup Limited has rolled out its broadcast coverage schedule, post times, and wagering menu for the Championships, which will take place on Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California, and the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic has been moved to the middle of the Saturday card, the organization said in a release on Thursday. Shown live domestically across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and FanDuel TV, the event will featuring 14 Grade I races and more than $34 million in purses and awards. New this year,...

Keeneland Library's Lecture Series returns with presentations by Maryland horseman and journalist Josh Pons, and NBC's Emmy Award-winning commentator Tom Hammond, the repository said in a release Thursday morning. Pons, author of the newly-released Letters from Country Life: Adolphe Pons, Man o' War, and the Founding of Maryland's Oldest Thoroughbred Farm, will speak Aug. 29. Hammond's presentation over his new autobiography entitled Races, Games, and Olympic Dreams: A Sportscaster's Life is set for Sept. 24. Both programs will be held at Keeneland Library from 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET. Each presentation will...

On Wednesday, Aug. 14, the New York Race Track Chaplaincy's 17th annual brunch at the Saratoga National Golf Club in Saratoga Springs, New York, will be emceed by NBC Sports's Donna Brothers and Thoroughbred owner Len Green will be honored with the Marylou Whitney Award, the non-profit said in an early Thursday release. The owner of D.J. Stable and The Green Group, a New Jersey-based CPA firm, Green will receive the Whitney Award for his ongoing support of the chaplaincy and its programs. Along with Brothers, FanDuel TV personality Todd...