NBC's Preakness rebound draws 5.5 million viewers, best since 2021
NBC’s Preakness drew 5.5 million viewers, up 22 percent and its best audience since 2021, even without Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo.
NBC’s Preakness Stakes found real traction again, averaging 5.5 million viewers across NBC and Peacock and peaking at 7.1 million. The 22 percent increase from 2025 pushed the middle jewel to its biggest audience since 2021 and gave the race a meaningful lift even without Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo in the field.
The timing and setting made the rebound more notable. NBC Sports began its Preakness coverage at 4 p.m. ET on May 16, with the race itself scheduled for 6:50 p.m. ET and a $2 million purse. Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland hosted the 151st running because Pimlico Race Course was in the middle of a $400 million overhaul, and NBC Sports said it would be the first and only time Laurel Park staged the Preakness. Napoleon Solo won the race, with Paco Lopez riding for trainer Chad Summers.
That made the audience bump a better mainstream test for the sport than a simple ratings note. The 2025 broadcast had averaged 4.6 million viewers, the lowest Preakness audience since NBC began televising the race in 2001. This year’s result brought the telecast back to 2024’s 5.5 million level, but under very different race conditions, with the Triple Crown storyline incomplete and the event shifted out of its traditional Baltimore home. NBC Sports also spread Preakness day across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN, with eight races on the schedule, a distribution setup that may have helped widen the audience beyond the core horse-racing crowd.
The bigger question is whether the gain was driven by the race itself, the broadcast strategy, or the novelty of the Laurel move. Any answer matters for Maryland officials, because NBC’s Preakness agreement with the Maryland Jockey Club has expired and talks on a new contract are still ongoing. NBC’s Derby deal with Churchill Downs runs through 2032, and that contrast leaves the Preakness in a more vulnerable media position even after a better day on the numbers.
The Derby remains in a different class. NBC’s 2026 Kentucky Derby telecast averaged 19.3 million viewers and peaked at 24.0 million, the strongest Derby audience on record. Against that backdrop, the Preakness rebound was not a rival breakthrough. It was a reminder that the race still has a live national draw, and that during Pimlico’s rebuild, preserving that audience will be just as important as finding the next winner.
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