The folks at the peacock are popping a few champagne bottles this morning. As part of one of the biggest sports days of 2015, the Kentucky Derby received an added boost. The race won by favorite American Pharoah was the best for NBC since taking over the rights and the highest rated Derby in 23 years.
ICYMI: American Pharoah's victory in Kentucky Derby on @nbc posts 10.8/24 overnight – best for Derby in 23 years (Lil E Tee; 10.9/29 in '92)
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) May 3, 2015
The Derby hosted a very strong field this year, but there wasn’t an exceeding amount of hype for American Pharoah, or any other horse, as the next great Triple Crown hopeful. With that likely not bringing in a lot of casual fans, the most plausible reason for the ratings boost is just how big of a sports day it was on Saturday.
The Derby got a lot of extra publicity lumped in with the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight as well as playoff action in the NBA and NHL as all taking place on May 2nd. That probably piqued the interest of folks who wouldn’t normally tune in just to say they watched all of these great sporting events on that Saturday. And best of all, the Derby took only 2 minutes and was free to watch on television. You can’t beat that deal.
