As the 150th Kentucky Derby comes to a close, records that have stood for a long time or as recently as last year were shattered. Attendance records, betting records and many others were shattered during the weekend.
From Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby day’s worth of racing set a record for the most amount of money bet on the race in its history at $320.5 million, up from last year’s $288.7 million. The single race had a record $210 million alone, beating 2023’s $188.7 million.
Over the course of the weekend, over $446 million was bet on all races at Churchill Downs.
As for viewership, there were also record numbers, with 16.7 million viewers on NBC, 15.9 million from Nielsen fast-nationals and a streaming audience of 714,000. This marks the largest audience for the event since 1989 on ABC, according to Sports Media Watch.
The three-way photo finish — which had Mystik Dan just ahead of Sierra Leone and Forever Young — captured the eyes of 20.1 million viewers from 7 to 7:15 p.m., which is the largest peak audience for the race on NBC since it began airing in 2001.
This article appears in Apr 24 – May 7, 2024.
