Finding something positive amid the COVID-19 pandemic is surely as difficult as finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.
Yet for Thoroughbred racing and, in particular, the New York Racing Association, the loss of numerous racing dates and on-track wagering at many venues has also created a situation in which the sport has gained far more television exposure with professional and collegiate sports shuttered than it would have in a traditional and less turbulent year.
"Looking across the whole portfolios of sports properties we have across sports television, the two properties that have managed the circumstances (during the pandemic) the best are NASCAR and horse racing. They are the two that have risen to meet this moment and have put themselves in a better position for the future," said Michael Mulvihill, Fox Sports' executive vice president of research, league operations, and strategy. "I think horse racing and our NYRA programming has really stepped up to fill the void, and it's been beneficial to horse racing and to us."
Mulvihill's Aug. 6 comments came two days before the $1 million Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course will be presented on a 90-minute, 5-6:30 p.m. (ET) show on the main Fox broadcast channel, providing an added half-hour of coverage this year.
"The broadcast network is our jewel platform. It's where our most important events live, and it's great to have an opportunity to elevate horse racing to the biggest possible stage, and this event merits that spotlight," he said.
The extended Travers coverage is also a reflection of the success Fox has enjoyed through airings of NYRA's "America's Day at the Races" shows on its FS1 and FS2 cable networks, which have presented coverage of racing at Belmont Park and Saratoga to fans starved for live sports during the pandemic. According to Mulvihill, total viewership for horse racing is up 300% since the start of the year.
"I don't think you can overstate how important it's been to Fox to have that live-event content. We've been able to do many, many more hours of live NYRA broadcasting on FS1 than we've ever been able to do before. The total viewing of horse racing on FS1 and FS2, the total consumption of horse racing, is up by 300% over last year, and that increased television consumption has carried over to a positive impact on handle as well," Mulvihill said. "We obviously want to see success, not just in our viewership metrics, but equally important if not more importantly, we want NYRA to achieve success in betting handle as well."
Using industry metrics, Mulvihill said the total consumption of horse racing has grown to 1.45 billion this year as opposed to 365 million at the same point in 2019. The total consumption measures the size of the audience and the minutes watched.
As optimistic as those numbers may be, what is even more satisfying is that they are remaining strong even as professional sports begin to return, with Mulvihill pointing to a record all-sources handle of $35.7 million for the Aug. 1 Whitney Day at Saratoga.
"The question was answered last weekend. For months we wondered how horse racing would fare once other sports staged their comebacks," Mulvihill said. "When we got to Whitney Day last Saturday, that was a full day of sports programming with baseball, the NBA, the NHL, the PGA in action, and total sports viewing across all networks was up considerably over the same day a year ago. Yet in spite of all that competition, the Whitney Day handle rose to an all-time high in all-sources handle.
"Television viewership was also good. It was the most viewed show of the day on FS1 and FS2. It was a demonstration that horse racing has not thrived just because of a lack of competition. When faced with a really challenging day of competition on many networks, the results were good. The ratings were good and the betting was probably better."
Mulvihill also pointed out how the lack of other sports has allowed Fox to add horse racing content to its FS1 platform, a larger network than FS2, which provided the bulk of Fox's coverage a year ago.
"We've done 120 hours on FS1, where there was just one last year," Mulvihill said. "The total viewing has exploded."
So has NYRA's handle, especially through its NYRA Bets wagering platform. Tony Allevato, the president of NYRA Bets and executive producer for NYRA TV, said NYRA Bets has experienced triple-digit growth in handle and new accounts, even during the pandemic.
"The NYRA Bets team, in conjunction with Fox, has done a really good job in reaching the casual sports and sports betting fans to get them to open accounts. We've seen a massive growth in customer base and traffic, and people are betting smaller amounts, which says they are not traditional horse racing fans from the past," Allevato said. "From our analytics, we're bringing more casual people to the game, and it looks like they are sticking for now."
At the current 40-day Saratoga meet, the total all-source handle through 15 days of $271,548,217 is up 22.6% over the 2019 figure of $221,424,768. Those numbers come on the heels of a Belmont Park spring/summer meet that featured a 42% jump in average daily all-sources handle to $15.4 million.
As for the specifics of Saturday's Travers telecast, Allevato said 32 cameras will be used, more than networks use for some professional sports broadcasts. There will also be aerial camera coverage provided by WinStar Farm.
The 90-minute broadcast will also include the $150,000 Waya Stakes (G3T) and the $300,000 Longines Test Stakes (G1) in addition to the 151st Travers, which features Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner Tiz the Law .
Besides the Fox show, the Saratoga card can be seen on FS1 from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and on FS2 from 3-5 p.m. The 12th and final race of the day will air on FS2 from 6:30-7 p.m.
