The Kentucky Derby will air on NBC for the rest of the decade and into the 2030s. Over the weekend, NBC Sports announced a multi-year extension of its partnership with the race at Churchill Downs. Fans now can see the race on NBC and Peacock through 2032.
The extension of the partnership, which began in 2001, will make NBC the longest-running home of the Kentucky Derby as NBCUniversal will become the first media company to present the event for three decades.
“As we celebrate the 150 running of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs is proud to extend the relationship with NBC Sports,” Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said in a statement. “As our media partner for the last 23 years, NBC has artfully captured the most exciting two minutes in sports and the spectacle of the senses that surrounds it.”
“Telling the rich stories surrounding the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May is part of the fabric of NBC Sports, and we are thrilled to continue that tradition with Churchill Downs,” Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports, said. “We look forward to surrounding the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby with wall-to-wall coverage and extensive promotion on the platforms of NBCUniversal.”
Why the Kentucky Derby is vital to American Sports
The 2024 Kentucky Derby was one of the most exciting horse races in recent history as Mystik Dan defeated Sierra Leone and Forever Young in a photo finish, the first since 1947. Before the race, NBC commentator Randy Moss spoke to Blood Horse about the impact the Kentucky Derby has on American sports.
“I think tradition has more to do with it than anything else. Obviously, way back in the day, horse racing was part of the holy trilogy of American sports—baseball, boxing, and horse racing,” he said. “Now, with the booming popularity of the NFL and other professional team sports, horse racing has been pushed further down the list in terms of general public recognition on a daily basis. But in America, with so many sports competing for the entertainment dollar, we’ve become a society that is focused on the big events. The Super Bowl.
“A lot of people don’t even watch the NFL until you get to the Super Bowl. Golf. Many people don’t pay attention to golf until you get to the Masters or the U.S. Open. A lot of people don’t watch NCAA basketball until you get to the NCAA Tournament. The same applies to the Kentucky Derby.”
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