NBC Sports is set to continue as the television home of the Preakness Stakes after securing a new media-rights agreement with the Maryland Jockey Club, keeping the second leg of the Triple Crown on the same network that already carries the Kentucky Derby. The deal comes as Maryland officials prepare to reveal the 2027 Preakness date and confront the reality that Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association have launched a marquee national series without Baltimore's flagship race.
Reporting by Front Office Sports indicates NBC emerged from a “hard-fought bidding war” that included Fox Sports, Netflix and Amazon to retain Preakness rights, though the precise term of the contract has not been disclosed. NBC has televised the Preakness every year since 2001, and its existing agreement to show the Kentucky Derby runs through 2032, giving the network 20-plus years of continuity on the sport's most-watched race and its middle jewel. With Belmont Stakes coverage now under the Fox umbrella as part of NYRA's broader partnership, the split aligns the Triple Crown with the same broadcast partners powering Churchill's and NYRA's new three-year-old championship concept.
The pivot point is the Thoroughbred Championship Series, a six-race, points-based competition for three-year-olds beginning in 2027 that stitches together the Kentucky Derby in May, the Belmont Stakes in June, the Matt Winn at Churchill Downs, the Jim Dandy and Travers at Saratoga, and a new championship event back at Churchill in September. In the formal announcement, NYRA and Churchill emphasized that all series races will air nationally, with NBC handling Churchill Downs cards and Fox televising Belmont and Saratoga, effectively creating a season-long narrative arc around the Derby trail and late-summer stakes. Notably — and pointedly from a competitive standpoint — the Preakness Stakes is not part of that framework, a snub highlighted by multiple outlets including Yahoo Sports and raising questions about how Maryland will reposition its race in a newly crowded calendar.
Maryland has spent much of the summer shoring up its leverage. In a late-July release, Governor Wes Moore's office confirmed the state exercised its right of first refusal to match Churchill Downs' $85 million offer and complete the acquisition of the intellectual property and trademarks for the Preakness Stakes and Black-Eyed Susan from 1/ST Racing. With that move, Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park came under the control of the Maryland Stadium Authority while day-to-day racing operations were placed with the Maryland Jockey Club, now organized as a not-for-profit entity under state law. Moore framed the acquisition as a way for Maryland to “shape its horseracing destiny” and preserve the Preakness as a pillar of the Triple Crown “for generations to come,” signaling that any future negotiations will start from a position of state ownership rather than private control.
That stance has hardened as word spread that the new Churchill–NYRA series would proceed without the Preakness. Local coverage from outlets such as WBAL-TV captured Moore insisting that “there is no Triple Crown without Preakness” and vowing that if anyone wants to sweep all three classics, “we'll see you in Baltimore next year.” The governor has also stressed that Maryland remains open to collaboration with Churchill Downs but that “Maryland's hands need to be the hands that own Preakness,” underscoring a willingness to partner on national initiatives without ceding control of the race itself. Against that backdrop, Wednesday's Annapolis press event — featuring Moore, the Maryland Jockey Club and its media-rights partner — is expected to confirm NBC's role and provide clarity on both the 2027 date and how the Preakness will coexist with the new series.
The physical stage for that future is a rebuilt Pimlico. Under plans outlined in state and local reporting, the 2027 Preakness is scheduled to return to Pimlico amid a more than $400 million redevelopment financed through Maryland Stadium Authority bonds, a project that will modernize the aging grandstand while reconfiguring the footprint of the historic oval. Officials have indicated permanent seating may not be fully complete by May 2027, meaning temporary hospitality and viewing structures will be used while construction continues, a logistical wrinkle that will affect crowd flow, corporate suites and the traditional infield scene but not the racing surface itself. For horseplayers, the expectation is that Pimlico's signature tight turns and usually fair dirt track will remain familiar, even if the surrounding infrastructure looks dramatically different.
The unresolved issue is timing. Churchill Downs and NYRA have said the Thoroughbred Championship Series will not alter the existing Triple Crown schedule, keeping the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May and the Belmont Stakes five weeks later, slotting the Matt Winn and Jim Dandy into July, the Travers into August and the new Churchill finale in September. Historically, the Preakness has been contested two weeks after the Derby on the third Saturday in May, a cadence that has increasingly been challenged by connections preferring more spacing before campaigns that target the Belmont, Travers and Breeders' Cup. With the Derby winner skipping Baltimore in recent seasons to stay fresher for those longer-term goals, the pressure on Maryland to slide the Preakness deeper into the calendar has only intensified, especially now that July and August stakes have been elevated inside a points-paying national series.
Audience metrics help explain why NBC and Maryland fought to keep the partnership intact. Recent telecasts have drawn millions of viewers, with the Preakness remaining the country's second-most-watched horse race behind the Derby, and NBC's Derby coverage itself reaching into the mid-20-million range. Even without the Derby winner, this year's Preakness broadcast maintained strong national interest, validating the race's brand power at a moment when its place in the broader narrative is being renegotiated. From a wagering and handicapping perspective, keeping the Preakness on NBC while the rest of the Churchill–NYRA series alternates between NBC and Fox means bettors will have consistent big-event windows and familiar on-air talent, but it also raises strategic questions: will a mid-May Preakness remain a true Triple Crown pivot, or will a later date evolve it into a bridge between spring classics and summer championships? Until Maryland nails down the 2027 date, trainers mapping three-year-old campaigns and horseplayers plotting season-long bankroll strategies will be handicapping not just horses, but the calendar itself.
Image Credits
Featured Image Credit
The Winner's Circle and Old Clubhouse lined with Black-Eyed Susans on Preakness Day, May 20, 2023. via Wikimedia Commons by JoeSchilp with usage type - Creative Commons License
