While horse racing may not be what it once was at its zenith, Triple Crown races at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes remain extremely popular events on the American sports calendar.
But in recent years, the demand of the Triple Crown schedule has seen horses pulled out of even attempting one of the iconic feats in sports. That happened last year when Derby winner Sovereignty was pulled out of the Preakness and instead rested to run the third leg of the Triple Crown at the Belmont.
Obviously, the lack of a Triple Crown chase badly hurts the allure and intrigue of the second leg at Pimlico. And according to Austin Karp at Sports Business Journal, organizers are ready to do something about it.
The Preakness Stakes is reportedly planning on moving its date back one week for the 2027 race to give horses an extra week’s rest after the Kentucky Derby. Traditionally, the race is run two weeks after the Derby with three weeks rest between the Preakness and Belmont. It remains to be seen whether or not the Belmont Stakes would also postpone their race to keep the three-week break in tact.
Importantly, this decision comes as the Preakness will see its contract with NBC expire after this year’s race in 2026.
Karp reports that current rightsholder NBC and Belmont rightsholder Fox are both interested. But in what is now standard place across the industry, so are streamers Amazon and Netflix. Adding the Preakness and turning it into a big event certainly fits with Netflx’s DNA. And you would imagine that whatever they did for MLB Opening Night would be turned up to 11 with the glitz and glamour of a Triple Crown race. There is also the reality of the shutdown of FanDuel TV bringing tons of horse racing inventory to the fold that could be attractive as a streaming tentpole for any of these media companies.
Predictably, Sovereignty skipping the Preakness last year led to the race’s lowest ratings since 1995. If the Derby winner skipping the race is going to become more commonplace, then the race’s future, and that of the Belmont, look much more grim as television events. An added week of rest not only helps the prestige of the race and preserves the Triple Crown chase, it also makes it much more attractive to potential television partners.
About Matt Yoder