Kentucky Derby sees resurgence

The Kentucky Derby had it’s 150th addition on Saturday and experienced a substantial uptick in viewership this year. There was an average audience of 16.7 million on NBC Sports platforms, a 13% boost from a year ago, and the race’s best total since 1989. During NBC’s broadcast on Saturday, the viewership peaked at 20.1 million making it NBC’s best viewership numbers for the Kentucky Derby ever. Viewership numbers were great on Saturday but the Derby also saw its best in person attendance since 2018.

Churchill Downs, renowned as the venue for the Kentucky Derby, recently concluded a $200 million renovation just two weeks before the latest race weekend. The iconic twin spires, dating back to 1895, now enjoy enhanced visibility for spectators. Additionally, approximately 3,000 seats were added to the main paddock ring, which has been lowered by about seven feet to create a more coliseum-like atmosphere. However, significant facility upgrades for the other two legs of the Triple Crown are currently underway. Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, host of the Preakness Stakes, is on the verge of securing $400 million for the reconstruction of its 153-year-old track pending approval from the Maryland legislature. Meanwhile, the Belmont Stakes is temporarily relocated to Saratoga, N.Y., for the next two years. Belmont Park is currently undergoing a $455 million renovation scheduled for completion by 2026. If all proceeds according to plan, all three legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown could undergo comprehensive modernization by the end of this decade.

The Kentucky Derby and horse racing is known for its betting, and this year was no different! According to Churchill Downs, $210.7 million was wagered on Mystik Dan's win of the Kentucky Derby, surpassing the figure wagered by $20 million last year. Overall betting on the Kentucky Derby Day card soared to a record $320.5 million, beating last year's record of $288.7 million. Additionally, TwinSpires, an online racebook and official betting partner of the Kentucky Derby, took a record $92.1 million in wagering on Saturday's races at Churchill Downs.

Baseball’s Business Star

You may know Dexter Fowler as a World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs, but what you may not know about him is he also a business owner and recent college graduate from Penn State University. He started his own production company called Fowlball Productions and 400 Ventures which is a management company who works hand in with Fowlball Productions. He aims to bridge the communication gap between entertainers, athletes, and the broader audience through the use of different media platforms.

Fowler’s production company is working with and helps to manage some professional athletes, but hopes to expand now that he finished his degree at Penn State. Fowler is not the only former professional athlete who has started a production company. Steph Curry, Peyton Manning and Blake Griffin are among past professional star athletes that have transitioned into production. Peyton Manning’s Omaha productions is of the most successful. They are currently in process of developing a show staring Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark called ‘Full Court Press’.

The American Premier League

The English Premier league is widely considered the best professional soccer league in the world. There is a rule change proposal that would shake up the premier league as we know it. This proposed rule change would make it so premier league clubs would now have a salary cap to their teams. Many fans both stateside and in Europe alike believe that this proposal is backed by the various American ownership groups that now own a majority of the teams in the league. This proposal would follow the model of a salary cap that is put on most teams in American professional leagues, but this is not common practice in any of the major leagues in Europe. That’s the proposal, but what does it mean? Would it actually happen?

Take the television revenue of the last-placed team and multiply it by five. That’s what the new spending limit would reportedly be. It’s a system known as “anchoring” that would seek to put some rules in place to keep wealthy teams from crazy spending, but in some ways be less punitive than the current rules. It would work in tandem with newly proposed squad cost rules, which would limit spending on players, transfers, and agent fees to a portion of a team’s own revenue. The limit is 70% for top teams who advance into European tournaments, and 85% for everybody else. Both the proposed spending cap and squad cost regulations, if approved, would go into effect for the 2025–26 season. The final vote would need 14 clubs in favor to pass. Monday’s initial check had 16 clubs in favor, while Manchester United, Manchester City, and Aston Villa reportedly voted against the idea, and Chelsea abstained.

So, do I think this is a good thing or a bad thing? In all honesty, I don’t think it’s necessary. Spending doesn’t equate to team success. It helps, but if you can’t develop and scout players well, you won’t be successful. For example, Chelsea has spent double of any other team in the league has spent and they sit in 7th out of 20 teams in the league. Same goes for Manchester United. Manchester United are notorious big spenders and they sit one position behind Chelsea in 8th place. I think until the gap between the top teams becomes too wide, there is no need for this new rule. It would help the teams who can’t afford to spend as much, but I don’t think it would bridge that gap enough for a league-wide change.

Quick Reads

• The WNBA is expected to begin funding full-time charter flights for the first time this season.

• Sunday's Miami Grand Prix coverage averaged 3.1 million viewers on ABC—the largest U.S. audience in F1 history.

• The National Park Service has announced that 62-year-old RFK Stadium in D.C. can be demolished without negative environmental effects.

• Netflix has announced it will stream the new docuseries on F1 Academy, following 15 women in the racing series.

• ESPN Bet’s earnings came up about $30M short of analyst projections—and Penn Entertainment’s stock fell as far as 15%.

Job Openings in Sports

• Marketing Internship - World Triathlon Corporation (Open to Remote)

• Seasonal Member Administrator - US Club Soccer (Open to Remote)

• Sports & Media Partnerships Specialist - Snapchat (New York, NY)

• Content Creator - FloRacing (Austin, TX)

• Manager, Public Relations & Communications - Philadelphia Union (Chester, PA)

Games of the Week

• Wells Fargo Championship - (Thursday-Sunday)

• Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich - Wednesday @ 3 PM

• Manchester United vs Arsenal - Sunday @ 11:30 AM

• New York Knicks vs Indiana Pacers - Wednesday @ 8 PM

• Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers - Wednesday @ 8 PM

Feel free to reply to any of our emails and tell us what you like AND don’t like about these so we can continue to improve!