NYRA, NBC extend Belmont Stakes broadcast deal

The New York Racing Association and NBC Sports Group have extended a deal giving the network exclusive broadcast rights to the Belmont Stakes, the two groups said on Wednesday.

Though terms were not disclosed, an NBC official said the extension will give the network the broadcast rights “through at least 2020.” NBC has held the broadcast rights to the Belmont since 2011, taking over at that time from ESPN, which held the rights from 2006-10. NBC had the broadcast rights from 2001-05.

The deal includes multiplatform broadcast rights to the Belmont and a host of other stakes run at NYRA tracks, according to the groups, including the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, “various summer races from Saratoga,” and the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont in the fall. Over the last several years, NBC has broadcast leading preps to the Breeders’ Cup two-day event, many of which are run at NYRA tracks.

Over the past 18 months, NBC has reached long-term extensions with Churchill Downs on the rights to the Kentucky Derby – by far the most valuable television property in North American racing – and with the Breeders’ Cup on the rights to its two-day event. Both extensions gave NBC the broadcast rights to the events until 2025.

NBC has not been successful yet in renewing the television rights to the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness, in part because officials for the Maryland Jockey Club are entertaining offers from other networks as they consider moving the race from Saturday to Sunday and from Pimlico to Laurel Park, perhaps as early as next year, according to officials. The MJC is expected to announce its intentions for the race in September.
NBC spokesman Dan Masonson said NBC is “in discussions” with the MJC over the Preakness rights.

Last year’s Belmont broadcast, featuring California Chrome’s attempt to win the Triple Crown, attracted 20.5 million viewers, according to NBC, the second-highest viewership of any television program during the second quarter of last year. Triple Crown attempts typically generate outsized viewership numbers, whereas a Belmont without a Triple Crown on the line is normally the lowest-rated of the three Triple Crown events.