The 148th running of the Kentucky Derby was among the most-watched sporting events in recent years — fourth-most among non-football and Olympic events since 2020, to be exact. It was also among the historic event’s most-watched in 33 years.
The Derby averaged 15.79 million viewers on NBC — 16.0 million including streaming services — good for the highest rating in three years (2019, 16.34M). It was also the event’s seventh-largest audience since 1989, with ratings and viewership up 8% from last year across all platforms.
Viewership peaked at 19.0 million viewers immediately following the race between 7-7:15 p.