Dan Daley, Audio Editor, SVG News
The broadcaster and racing association are rejuvenating the sport on TV
Like boxing and other sports whose heyday was in the mid 20th century, horse racing lost much of its luster in the early part of this century, thanks to the growth of digital entertainment, broader concern for animal welfare, and the NFL’s dominance of broadcast sports, accompanied by deteriorating attendance and waning media coverage.
It has been a surprise, then, to see the sport’s significant resurgence in recent years. In 2022, for example, FOX Sports and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) jointly announced a deal in which the broadcaster acquired exclusive media rights for the Belmont Stakes, the final jewel of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown series. In 2024, the 150th Kentucky Derby set a new record for viewership — 16.7 million viewers, a 13% increase from 2023 — and drew 156,710, its largest in-person crowd since 2018. The two-day 2024 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar in Southern California reported an attendance of 67,418, a significant increase from the last time the event was held there in 2021.
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