SBJ Media: Preakness Stakes closes in on historic shift

My colleague Ben Fischer and I reported back in February that YouTube was the early leader for a larger package of NFL media rights this coming season. Nothing seems to have changed there. Over the weekend, Pro Football Talk reported that Fox and Netflix are also interested in such a package.

A smaller number of games certainly aligns more with what Netflix has done in the past, and perhaps with what it wants in the future. Last week on the SBJ Sports Media Podcast, I noted that sources had told me that Netflix met with the NFL early this year about interest down the line on a broader slate of NFL international games once the league expands. However, Netflix wasn’t biting at that offer of what would be primarily Sunday morning games.

The Preakness Stakes could have a new spot on the racing calendar and a new broadcast home beginning in 2027, sources told SBJ.

The second leg of the Triple Crown is set to make a historic shift to one week later in May, the sources said, and interest around media rights is picking up. The race is heading into its final year with NBC Sports.

The Preakness, which started in 1873, has consistently been run two weeks after the Kentucky Derby since 1950. The Derby’s traditional spot on the first Saturday in May would remain unchanged, but the revised schedule would allow for three weeks between the races, likely meaning more Derby entrants would race at Pimlico.

The sources said whether the Belmont Stakes — traditionally run three weeks after the Preakness — would also shift a week could depend on who wins the media rights to the Preakness.

NBC Sports, Fox Sports, Amazon and Netflix have shown interest in the Preakness rights, the sources said, with NBC highly interested in retaining them. NBC, which has had the event since 2001, could look to offer broadcast network exposure for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. That Friday event has previously been on cable TV or streamed on Peacock. NBC, which is locked into a long-term deal for the Kentucky Derby through 2032, has shown flexibility in what it can do with the overall weekend of a Triple Crown race by bringing this year’s Kentucky Oaks to prime-time broadcast TV on that Friday night.

Night racing would likely not be in the cards for the Black-Eyed Susan, however, as Pimlico does not have lights. “It’s a day that is available for growth,” said Bill Knauf, GM for the Maryland Jockey Club, which now operates Pimlico and the Preakness. “It’s going to be interesting to watch how the Oaks responds this year with their switch to a later schedule. … [The Black-Eyed Susan is] already a very strong day as it relates to the entire wagering landscape and, of course, the prestige of the day. And so we’re certainly going to look to continue to grow it, not only on the media side, but also participation on-site wise as well.”

Work to be done

Fox, which took rights to the Belmont Stakes from NBC a few years ago, also has a strong interest in getting the Preakness, sources told me. Fox’s rights for the Belmont run through 2030, and the company also has a relationship with Belmont operator NYRA for its NYRA Bets business.

Sources told me that should Fox get the Preakness, the network would endorse moving the Belmont Stakes back a week, thus giving three weeks between each race (there are currently only three between the Preakness and Belmont). Should the Preakness land elsewhere, the sources noted it would not be a foregone conclusion that NYRA would move the Belmont back a week.

Sources told SBJ that the MJC has not had formal conversations yet with the other Triple Crown operators about a potential date change.

FanDuel TV’s loss could be opportunity for others

Late last month, news broke that the FanDuel TV linear network, which started back in 1999 as TVG and has focused on thoroughbred betting, was to be phased out over the next 20 months. That channel carried a number of races throughout the year, including races from Pimlico.

NBC Sports, Fox Sports, Amazon or Netflix could present new streaming options for such races, and in some cases, linear TV solutions. Of the roughly 55 thoroughbred racetracks in North America, about 35,000 horse races are run every year. Within those 55 tracks, there are probably fewer than 10 at the highest level of the sport (tracks like Saratoga, Belmont, Churchill, Keeneland, Del Mar and likely the soon-to-be-renovated Pimlico).

Sources said the MJC was being open with media partners about broadcast needs for Pimlico’s full slate of 120 days of racing and how other races like the Maryland Millions could be better promoted.

Looking across the broader landscape of premium tracks, sources tell SBJ that Fox would have a high level of interest in adding programming from many of them to complement the 900 to 1,000 hours of programming it already annually has through the NYRA deal. The aggregation of such rights, sources noted, could lead to the creation of a new OTT product that could be sold to distributors.

With media assets more valuable than ever for football, the 18-year old NFL Broadcasting and Media Workshop — many may remember it with the “Boot Camp” moniker — is one of the league’s most important programs. The latest three-day iteration, done in conjunction with the NFLPA, wrapped up last week in Southern California, with 24 participants making their way through a series of workshops, presentations and training sessions.

“It feeds the pipeline for our partners, but at the same time, these guys are advocates for the game,” said Tracy Perlman, the NFL’s SVP/Player Operations who steers the event. “We want to make sure not only are they prepared and have the tools, but we want to give them the network so that they now have the direct contact with [NBC producers] Fred Gaudelli and Rob Hyland and [CBS producer] Drew Kaliski. You don’t get this elsewhere.”

The representation from the media side included partners like Amazon, Fox, NFL Network, CBS, iHeartMedia, Westwood One, SiriusXM, ESPN and NBC, as well as teams like the Bears, Browns, Chargers and Raiders. Talent that came out to work the program this year included Noah Eagle, Andrew Siciliano, Brian Baldinger, Jason McCourty, Maurice Jones-Drew, Chris Myers, Kristina Pink, Roman Harper and Ross Tucker.

Fierce competition

The program gets posted in November, and it’s a big lift just getting the right mix of participants, with players — and many agents of players — jockeying for a spot. Even network partners will submit some names.

“It’s so competitive that we need to make sure that they actually complete the application — and it is not a short application — and that they submit reels,” Perlman said.

“The reels have become really important, because when you’re getting 90 players applying and you’re trying to pick 24, we don’t want to just say, ‘OK, people think this is about big names.’ It’s not. It’s about the guys who are serious about it, the guys who took the time to fill out the application, the guys who sent in reels doing podcasts and the desk. … We have put together a blue-ribbon panel of people to view everything, read every application, and then we literally sit in a room for two and a half hours and force rank to get to the 24.”

Free agent TE Zach Ertz, who is recovering from a torn ACL and wants to play another year, was one of the participants last week, and he raved about his first time at the event.

“I know Jason Kelce came here in the past, a lot of people have come here in the past, and they spoke very highly of it,” said Ertz, who was signed up last year but needed to attend his wife’s induction into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame. “Justin Pugh came last year, spoke very highly of it. So, I just gave it a shot, just to give me an option or give me a look into what that option would actually look like.”

Ertz felt the podcasting and radio work came most naturally, and he gave extra praise for the session he did alongside Bears play-by-play announcer Jeff Joniak.

“I enjoyed it more than I probably thought I would,” Ertz said. “It’s awesome that the NFL is doing this for guys. The people that are here — the producers, the on-air talent — are the best of the best.”

ESPN is set to air its first WrestleMania this weekend under the new pact with WWE, but sources tell SBJ that YouTube TV subscribers will still not be able to authenticate on the ESPN app in time for the event. Google is working through tech issues related to the authentication, sources added, and there remains an expectation that the problems should be solved ahead of SummerSlam.

Versant continues to go its own direction after splitting with NBCU, hiring its first outside lobbying firm in trAction Strategic, per a new government filing, which notes the lobbying firm will work on “legislative proposals and oversight relating to sports broadcasting,” meaning USA Sports and Golf Channel.

Tonight’s WNBA Draft, like the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, will be a good indicator of a “new normal” for women’s hoops telecasts. The Caitlin Clark draft telecast drew a record of just under 2.5 million viewers on ESPN two years ago, and last year was the second-best with 1.3 million for a Paige Bueckers-led class. Prior to Clark, the record for a WNBA Draft audience was just 601,000 in 2004.

For those keeping score, TNT Sports’ 18.3 million viewers for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship this year is only the company’s second-best viewership figure all time. The top remains 22.6 million for Kentucky-Wisconsin in the 2015 semifinal. TNT Sports never broke 16 million for any NBA game.

I was a little surprised last week when Scott Van Pelt said he wouldn’t be taking the 5pm ET “SportsCenter” hosting duties. Late games have meant a number of late nights for SVP. But then I saw the audience numbers for ESPN studio shows in Q1. SVP’s “SportsCenter” leads all studio shows, which makes sense coming off so many big games, and that window is around double what the 5pm “SC” gets.

• On the latest SBJ Sports Media Podcast, I chat with Athletes First’s Gideon Cohen, an SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree in 2019, and he discusses how the agency has built out a media representation business and what he’s paying attention to in the space.
• ESPN had its second-best Masters Par 3 Contest audience ever on Wednesday, despite some vocal pushback against its inclusion of Jason Kelce in the coverage, writes SBJ’s Josh Carpenter.
• Carpenter also broke down each of the 391 shots that CBS showed during its coverage of the Masters on Sunday, including all 71 of Rory McIlroy’s final round. McIlroy was the only player to have all shots shown Sunday. Overall, CBS showed 391 shots on the day, up from 337 for last year’s final round. Those 391 shots were across 23 players, also an increase from 20 last year.
• While down in Augusta for the Masters, Carpenter reported that, with TGL in the midst of media rights negotiations, the league’s presenting sponsor SoFi is eyeing more consistent broadcast windows in the next rights deal.
• Building on a relationship that started around the FIFA Club World Cup, DAZN and TNT Sports will partner on boxing starting this summer in a move that will help bolster the sport’s previously diminishing presence on linear TV in the U.S., reports my colleague Adam Stern.