Largest TV Audience for Derby Since 1989

According to numbers, the network revealed on Sunday, NBC Sports' coverage of Saturday's Kentucky Derby averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 16.7 million people, the biggest Derby audience since 18.5 million viewers saw Sunday Silence's 1989 victory on ABC.

When Mystik Dan defeated Sierra Leone and Forever Young in the Kentucky Derby's first three-horse photo finish since 1947, viewership peaked at 20.1 million from 7 to 7:15 p.m. ET. The peak viewership on Saturday was the highest for a Kentucky Derby broadcast on NBC Sports history.

The 2024 Kentucky Derby is expected to draw 16.7 million people, up 13% from 14.8 million viewers the year before. This will be NBC's highest-rated show since the NFL Divisional Playoffs in January.

The show's NBC-TV household rating, which was 7.5/27 (6:31–7:24 p.m. ET), was 9% higher than the previous year. The 27 share is the highest share for a Kentucky Derby presentation on NBC Sports in history.

With an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 714,000 viewers, led by Peacock, the "Run for the Roses" recorded the greatest streaming audience for a horse racing event on NBC Sports—nearly tripling that of the previous year (371,000).

For eleven of the previous fifteen Kentucky Derby races held in May (2009–2024, excluding the 2020 Covid-impacted event that was postponed to September), NBC Sports has averaged over 15 million viewers across all platforms.

A cooperation renewal between NBC Sports and Churchill Downs was announced on Saturday. As a result, the Kentucky Derby will remain the media home of NBC and Peacock through 2032.