NBC will have to fend off Fox, streamers, to retain Preakness

Umberto Rispoli, left, atop Journalism, edges out Luis Saez, atop Gosger, to win the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race Saturday, May 17, 2025, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

NBC may not only have to hold off consistent challenger FOX, but also the two biggest streamers, in order to retain its rights to the second leg of the Triple Crown.

NBC is “highly interested” in continuing to carry horse racing’s Preakness Stakes past the expiration of its contract this year, but Belmont Stakes broadcaster FOX and streamers Amazon and Netflix are also said to be interested in the rights, Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal reported Monday. A new deal could coincide with the Preakness moving back a week to the fourth Saturday in May, three weeks after the Derby, per Karp.

The Preakness has aired on NBC dating back to 2001, moving over from ABC along with the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. NBC has aired the Derby and Preakness continuously ever since, but twice lost rights to the Belmont — first to ABC from 2006-10 and then again to FOX from 2023 onward, though its decade-long stint in between included the only two successful Triple Crown bids in the past 48 years.

FOX, which has long challenged NBC for rights to Triple Crown races, is said to have “strong interest” in pairing the Preakness with the Belmont, and per Karp would “endorse” pushing the Belmont back a week in order to accommodate a later Preakness if it held rights to both.

As for the streamers, it is unclear whether they are merely kicking the tires or seriously interested. A one-off like the Preakness would fit the broader Netflix “event” strategy. Amazon Prime Video has been pursuing full-season packages rather than standalone events, but it is not averse to the latter — having carried golf’s Skins game last year.

The Preakness takes place during the NBA Playoffs and currently coincides with either the end of the second round or start of the conference finals. (If pushed back a week, it would coincide with the middle of the conference finals.) For both incumbent broadcaster NBC and prospective bidder Prime Video, both of which carry NBA games, it would make sense to pair the two events as NBC did during its prior run with the NBA.

Tags: Triple Crown

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Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

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Comments 9

tg says:

1 month ago

Not a chance the CW could grab the rights to this, way too expensive
JEAN H PIERRE says:

3 months ago

This will free up some money for NBC. Remember NBC is about big events and the Derby is a big big event not some horse race. What do you think Dr Lewis?
Richard W says:

3 months ago

I had heard this was the final year for the Preakness to air on NBC but what a chance for the CW to get a hold of this important race and then intersperse this with their NASCAR O’Reilly Cup coverage as they can always move that race to primetime and insert the Preakness in the late afternoon hours AND it gives them another sports property of a vastly different kind and help to increase viewership to their portfolio in the process. I think this will go down to who wants it the most, FOX, the CW or NBC. I’m hoping for a fresher outtake of the race and give it to the CW for a multi-year agreement in place starting with next year’s race. We shall see what happens but please, no streamers!!!.
Nate Johnson says:

3 months ago

I’m not sure how the Preakness would help NBC or Prime Video Conference Finals lead in (assuming the Preakness move their event a week back from their traditional Saturday). The reason I say that is because ESPN/ABC normally has the Saturday date during the middle of Conference Finals (Game 3 to be exact). I’m not sure if either NBC or Prime Video will be able to snatch that away from ESPN/ABC at all if they get the Preakness. And of course, NBC and Prime Video take turns covering a conference final every year* so they would have to accept this event including in the years where they won’t have the Conference Finals.

So I don’t know how it’ll help those 2 whatsoever. Preakness has to be proud that there’s interest to their event and maybe a lot has to do with them possibly moving the event back by one more week so they can they can have an opportunity of the Derby winner to participate which means whoever owns the rights can create headlines and ads in hopes of a healthy viewership return. It’ll be interesting to see who they decide to partner with in the coming years.

*Except one where both each will have a Conference Final
nick p says:

3 months ago

No Curt Menefee for Preakness
Football fan says:

3 months ago

If they go to Fox don’t have Charrisa Thompson and Curt Menefee involved they don’t know anything about horse racing.
Jacob Mauney says:

3 months ago

Personally, I would predict that NBC only makes a token effort to hold the Preakness and are outbid by another entity. I think they are much more interested in the Kentucky Derby as event programming than they are in carrying the second race in the series, especially since the Derby winner only occasionally runs in it as of late. Fox as the Belmont rights holder would probably be more likely to bid it up, since it leads well into an event they already have as opposed to leading out of it.
- dx says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  I think it’s a little more valuable to NBC than that. The Preakness may be tethered to a renewal rights for other Grade 1 stakes races at various Frank Stronach-owned tracks throughout the country that NBC has been carrying for years to support Kentucky Derby and Breeders Cup coverage. So, they may very well want to keep the whole package as it relates to their year-round racing coverage. Plus the additional value from having it lead into NBA playoff coverage- potentially a second round game 6/7 or conference final game 1.
  
  I see this because I do believe the Belmont Stakes is part of an overall exclusive rights deal for racing in New York that FOX has (so including all the other Grade 1 stakes at Belmont and Saratoga except when Belmont hosts the Breeders Cup).
ESL says:

3 months ago

The big news on the Preakness is moving the race back a week. This is huge because the extra week will most likely getting the Kentucky Derby winner to race in the Preakness. There have been many years where the Derby winner has skipped the Preakness due to the short time between races. This has had a huge effect on the ratings as well. This extra week should help the triple crown and be beneficial for TV. Would like to see Fox or NBC get the Preakness. If a streamer gets it, every race would be with a different media partner.