Perhaps fueled by the furor surrounding Bob Baffert and Medina Spirit, Preakness ratings not only surged ahead of last year’s October low, but the previous May edition as well.
The race segment of the Preakness Stakes averaged a 3.9 rating and 7.01 million viewers on NBC, marking the highest rating and viewership for the event since eventual Triple Crown winner Justify won it in 2018 (4.8, 7.90M). Viewership peaked at 8.6 million during the quarter-hour encompassing the race.
Ratings surged 196% and viewership 197% from last year, when the race took place in October as the final leg of a disjointed and elongated Triple Crown season (1.3, 2.36M). Compared to the previous May edition in 2019, which did not involve the Kentucky Derby winner, ratings and viewership rose 13 and 30 percent respectively from a 3.4 and 5.41 million.
Both figures were still the third-lowest for the race since it moved to NBC in 2001.
For the weekend, the race segment was comfortably television’s highest rated and most-watched sportscast. It also took top honors in adults 18-49 — and kids 2-17 — despite having a median age of over 65.
The Preakness had added relevance this year due to the positive doping test of the Baffert-trained Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who finished third in Saturday’s race. The Baffert controversy generated greater-than-usual headlines for horse racing in the two weeks between the Derby and Preakness.
Baltimore led all markets for the race with a 13.8 rating and 37 share, meaning 37% of homes with televisions in use were tuned to the race. The rating fell slightly from 2019 (14.0), but the share was up (from a 33). Ft. Myers, Fla., ranked second at a 9.8 (+7%) and 20 share (+11%). Louisville (9.3/20), West Palm Beach, Fla. (8.9/21) and Buffalo (8.7/20) rounded out the top five.
[Local numbers from NBC Sports PR]
