NBC will remain the television home to (most) of the marquee event inventory in horse racing. The network announced on Wednesday that it has struck a deal with Breeders’ Cup Limited, the administers of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, to carry the event’s races on its platforms through 2030.
According to the press release, NBC will air 3.5 hours of live event coverage during this year’s races, while USA Network and Peacock will also contribute live coverage.
NBC Sports has aired the Breeders’ Cup every year since 2012, and will have been home to 41 of 47 Breeders’ Cup World Championships when this deal concludes in 2030.
Of course, NBC is also home to the first two legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Fox recently started airing the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, under an 8-year agreement that began in 2023. Prior to that deal, NBC held all of horse racing’s premier inventory; though Fox Sports broadcasts a substantial volume of the sport’s day-to-day inventory via America’s Day at the Races on FS2.
Wednesday’s announcement has some interesting implications for NBC Sports outside of horse racing. With NBCUniversal set to spin off most of its cable assets this year, including USA Network, this deal brings into question the timing of that spinoff. The Breeders’ Cup will be held October 31 and November 1 this year. By that point, it’s certainly possible that USA Network is operating outside of the NBC umbrella, but the network has already announced the channel as part of this deal.
NBC Sports executive Rick Cordella said last year following the announcement of the spinoff that the network would “fulfill every obligation” to its partners, regardless of if a network remained inside or outside of NBC. But nonetheless, it’s interesting that NBC would willingly negotiate a deal involving USA Network, knowing that the channel will soon be outside its purview.
It’s possible that USA’s involvement will only be for this year and, if so, it might signal that NBC’s impending spinoff won’t occur until very late in 2025. Either way, the tea leaves in Wednesday’s announcement are interesting.
Returning to horse racing, this deal shores up NBC’s position as the home of the sport’s biggest events for quite some time. The network already has a media rights deal for the Kentucky Derby through 2032, though the Preakness’ future is far less certain.
Per Puck’s John Ourand, NBC’s agreement with the Triple Crown’s second leg goes through 2025, but the Preakness finds itself in a precarious spot as trainers increasingly opt to have their horses skip the race due to the quick turnaround following the Kentucky Derby. That may be reason for the lack of clarity regarding the race’s media rights future, but it’s likely NBC’s if they want it.
But no matter the future of the Preakness, NBC is clearly pleased with where the sport of horse racing is going, and is willing to stay in business with the sport for years to come.
