Horse Racing

Television a scene change for the Breeder’s Cup


With 38 editions — and continuing — into the record books, the Breeders’ Cup World Championship is considered an incredible success story that has stood the test of time.

It all started in 1984 with seven bets and took off like a rocket ship, thanks in large part to four hours of national television coverage on NBC, which introduced a day of spectacular racing with victories by the champions. odds and a 53-1 shot, an epic protracted battle in the richest race of the day and picturesque weather to frame the event.

Heading into 2022, with 14 Breeders’ Cup slots and a two-day event, television coverage remains a central part of the Breeders’ Cup winning formula but, like many installments of everyday life in 1984, it has changed over the years.

“It’s a short way to put it,” said Justin McDonald, senior vice president of marketing for Breeders’ Cup.

True to form in an ever-changing world, the 39th Breeders Cup will take on a different look on television next year.

Registration for

A scene at Del Mar on November 5, 2021.
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt

Due to NBC’s decision to pull the plug on its NBCSN network after December 31, Breeders’ Cup will lose its socket in the group of NBC networks that provided 9 1/2 of the 10 and a half hours of television coverage for the event. event last month at Del Mar. Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) hub airs for one hour on the premier NBC network.

While an official announcement has yet to be made, it is expected that those hours on NBCSN will shift primarily to the US Network with CNBC also likely for some coverage. Both networks are owned by their parent company, NBCUniversal, which will transfer about 1,500 hours of sports programming to the USA Network, according to published reports.

“Obviously we’ve had some conversations with NBC about next year, and I think they’ll probably be looking to get some news on that early in the new year,” McDonald said.

The new home page on the viewer’s cable guide that appeared at the time of the broadcast of the Breeders’ Cup race has undergone a number of notable changes over the past few years to keep pace with the new media platforms that have evolved.

“We’ll always need the great production quality that NBC delivers. They’ve been with us from day one and have been a great partner. The storytelling and the ability to orchestrate events. Their world class is what really helps sell the event,” McDonald said. “So it’s more about the distribution and distribution of that product. The distribution is changing by the minute and we see it as wanting to maximize the distribution of the Breeders’ Cups and we want to make sure making sure we’re reaching consumers where they’re using the content, that’s what’s really changing.There are so many ways to get content and we want to make sure we’re delivering that content in the most effective way possible. Our goal is to reach people the way they want to see us.”

Chad Brown, left, with Nick Luck NBC.  Newspaperaperofrecord (IRE) with Irad Ortiz Jr.  won the Breeders award & # 39;  Juvenile Fillies Turf Cup Guaranteed $1,000,000 (G1T) at Churchill Downs on November 2, 2018.
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt

Broadcaster Nick Luck interviews coach Chad Brown for NBC at Breeders’ Cup 2018 at Churchill Downs

In addition to NBC as a brick-and-mortar outlet, Breeders’ Cup also relies on television and online coverage from TVG for its display. TVG has shown every Breeders’ Cup race except the Classic since 2019, and the equestrian network has also produced the popular Breeders’ Cup simulation run by the ADWs.

“We were ahead of the OTT (Over the Top) curve thanks to ADW and our simulcasts through TVG,” McDonald said. “In the two days of the Breeders’ Cup race, we had about half a million unique IPs watch our simulation through ADW or Breederscup.com.”

McDonald’s said those 515,000 visitors represent a 69% increase since 2019.

“It’s growing and growing,” he said.

Conversely, as the online audience grows, the linear TV audience shrinks. According to NBC spokesman Dan Masonson, Classic averaged 1.2 million viewers in prime time on November 6, while Future Stars Friday coverage averaged 161,000 viewers on NBCSN.

In 2020, Classic attracted 1.61 million spectators after 2.08 million the previous year.

“Linear TV is trending down, but it’s a global phenomenon,” McDonald said.

To make up for the loss of viewers, newer forms of media have come to the fore.

In 2020, Breeders’ Cup began featuring underdog races on Twitter, expanding it to both days of last month’s November 5-6 event. Each year generates about 3.4 million views.

“Coverage is part of a larger marketing campaign in partnership with Twitter, which includes tweets promoted and promoted on Twitter,” McDonald said.

New to the mix this year is the launch of the Breeders’ Cup show broadcast in Spanish. In partnership with America’s Best Racing and 1ST Racing’s HipicaTV, the live stream of 14 Breeders’ Cup entries on HipicaTV’s YouTube channel generated more than 282,000 cumulative views, with a Saturday audience of 200,000 people.

Claudia Spadaro, Preakness Draw 2021
Photo: Jerry Dzierwinski / Maryland Jockey Club

Claudia Spadaro

The HipicaTV host said: “As a team, we’re incredibly excited about the show’s reach, the direct interaction with fans around the world, and racing analyst Claudia Spadaro.” We are confident that this is just the beginning. Our Breeders’ Cup viewership makes it clear that the audience is out there and they want more coverage of racing in Spanish.”

McDonald’s said he was pleased with the response to the “Breeders’ Cup en Vivo” programs and that they were “something we will continue to do in the future.”

Another new avenue for viewers in 2021 is NBC’s Peacock app, which emulates NBC’s presentation of the Classic.

Put all of that together and it paints an optimistic picture, but hard to quantify due to all the different backgrounds.

“Viewership is difficult with different reporting systems. It’s not just us,” McDonald said. “Everybody is trying to figure out how to do a real comparison.”

As for the Breeders’ Cup, McDonald’s believes betting numbers are the most accurate measure of the event’s reach and that speaks quite well on behalf of the 38th Breeders’ Cup. Two days at the Breeders’ Cup. Del Mar made a two-day record of $182,908,409, surpassing the previous record of $174,628,986 in 2019.

“For us, the handle is a great way to quantify interest in a product, as that is our sales figure,” says McDonald. “Considering that, we’re on the right track.”

For all the changes and additions in recent years, there’s something else on the horizon that could provide Breeders’ Cups — and racing in general — with a big boost. Given the rapid growth of sports betting across the United States, adding Breeders’ Cups to sportsbooks’ betting lineups is a bet that is sure to have a dramatic impact on perception and processing. figures in the coming years.

“Clearly the next big thing for us will be sports betting and how horse racing fits into the sports betting boom in the US. That’s a huge opportunity for us to bring our product to the table. into sportsbooks, like FanDuel, with a shared wallet in such a way that we can stand in front of millions and millions of sponsored account holders who are bets. That’s great exposure. Get your product on Amazon if you’re a retailer. That’s the biggest opportunity for staking and distribution and content search sportsbooks. We need to get our products in front of those people, especially. if sportsbooks are spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year advertising their products and trying to attract new customers.”

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