NBC Sports’ presentation of the 147th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 14.5 million viewers as the “Run for the Roses” returned to its traditional first Saturday in May date – marking a 54% increase from last year’s event (9.4 million on Sept. 5), according to official national data provided by Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
Month: May 2021
NBC Draws 14.5M Viewers for Kentucky Derby
NBC Sports' presentation of the 147th Kentucky Derby averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 14.5 million viewers as the “Run for the Roses” returned to its traditional first Saturday in May date. It represented a 54% increase from last year's event (9.4 million Sept. 5), according to official national data provided by Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
Viewership peaked at 15.7 million viewers from 6:45-7 p.m. ET on NBC as Medina Spirit gave Bob Baffert his record seventh victory.
The TV-only average audience of 14.4 million viewers topped all entertainment awards shows for the first time ever and marked NBC's most watched broadcast since the NFL Divisional Playoffs in January. NBC Sports Digital's presentation of the Kentucky Derby delivered a record Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 139,300 viewers for the event via the NBC Sports app and www.NBCSports.com.
The NBC-TV household rating for the broadcast (6:31-7:18 p.m. ET) was a 7.1/22.
NBC Sports' coverage of the 146th Preakness S. from Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Md., begins Friday, May 14 at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN. NBC presents the Preakness Saturday, May 15 at 5 p.m. ET, with coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
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“Wagering Insecurity” – Part 7 – Z
This is Part 7 of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation's (TIF) series “Wagering Insecurity.”
Faced with remarkable competitive pressure from the rise of legal sports betting, horse racing is at a crossroads.
Confidence amongst horseplayers and horse owners is essential to the future sustainability of the sport. Efforts to improve the greater North American Thoroughbred industry will fall flat if its stakeholders fail to secure a foundation of integrity, along with increased transparency of the wagering business and its participants over time. Achieving this is growing increasingly difficult after the sport has neglected its core base–horseplayers–for decades.
“Wagering Insecurity” details some of that neglect, and the need to embrace serious reform. Fortunately, there are examples across the racing world to follow.
Transparent oversight of racing has been defunded over decades and customer protection remains weak. North American Thoroughbred racing in the 2020s is saddled with a regulatory infrastructure designed for a sport in the 1970s.
Racing has to change.
Ten years ago, Jockey Club research conducted by McKinsey showed that a minority of racing fans, just 46% of those surveyed, said that they would recommend the sport to others.
“Thoroughbred fans are almost twice as likely to recommend baseball (81%), football (73%), or basketball (77%) to others as they are to recommend Thoroughbred racing.”
There are many reasons for racing's waning appeal among its own fans but the gambling experience is certainly a key one.
Simply getting more eyes on racing is not going to be enough to sustain interest amongst future generations.
While many of racing's existing American customers have long been accustomed to a sport with substandard, haphazard and insufficient oversight, the next generation might not be as forgiving. A 2019 piece by Julie Arbit, Global Senior Vice President, Insights at VICE Media Group, highlighted this burgeoning need among Generation Z, whose oldest members are now in their mid-20s.
“Gen Z is coming of age in a world of infinite choice, and this affects everything from how they define themselves to how they love and how they buy..”
For the complete article, click here.
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Breeders’ Cup Tickets on Sale July 16
Tickets for the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar, which will be staged Nov. 5-6, will go on sale to the public Friday, July 16 at Noon ET / 9:00 a.m. PT. Information including seating options and ticket pricing will be released early next month. In consideration of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Breeders' Cup is working in tandem with Del Mar and local and state health officials to ensure attendees' health and safety. Conducted at Del Mar without fans in 2020, the Breeders' Cup will be held for the second time at the seaside oval.
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