NBC earns most-watched Kentucky Derby on record

Given what we know about out-of-home viewing, it is reasonable to believe that the Kentucky Derby, an early-evening weekend event that is primed for large gatherings or passive viewing in a commercial establishment, is uniquely positioned to benefit from out-of-home viewing, even more so than other live sporting events.

NBC was also lifted by its largest-ever streaming audience for the Derby, with Peacock chipping in 1.3 million viewers per Adobe Analytics, up from 959,000 viewers in 2025.

On Friday night, the first-ever primetime presentation of the Kentucky Oaks averaged 2.4 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. The telecast blew away the previous Kentucky Oaks viewership record, 593,000 viewers for ESPN’s presentation in 1997. The Kentucky Oaks averaged just 304,000 viewers on USA Network across the past three years.

Regardless of viewership-measurement caveats, an audience approaching 20 million viewers is an incredible feat in the context of modern sports viewership. Saturday’s Derby audience would’ve eclipsed every World Series game since 2019 aside from last year’s Game 7 between the Dodgers and Blue Jays, and every NBA Finals game since 2017. Of course, comparing the window for a horse racing telecast, which is typically around one hour, to MLB or NBA telecasts that last in the neighborhood of three hours, is apples-to-oranges.

Still, it gives an idea of the magnitude of a Kentucky Derby audience. There are few viewership events on par with the Kentucky Derby, particularly when excluding football. NBC will continue to enjoy the fruits of the Derby’s popularity through at least 2032, when its current media rights agreement with Churchill Downs expires.

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