NBC Sports Network: An Opportunity For Horse Racing (Updated)
by Matt Gardner on Jan 2, 2012 4:54 PM EST
in Racing News
Email
Print
[UPDATED with additional information about this spring's racing coverage on the NBC family of networks.]
The long-anticipated change of Versus to the new NBC Sports Network occurred today at 4pm Eastern time, just in time for the NHL's annual Winter Classic. The re-branded network, along with NBC, will broadcast several of this year's Kentucky Derby prep races, all three legs of the Triple Crown, and selected telecasts from Saratoga and Keeneland. Additionally, the NBC Sports Network will cover Olympic events, NHL, MLS, the Tour de France, college football and basketball, as well as a variety of sports-centric talk shows to fill out the all-day channel.
While ESPN is the self-titled "World Wide Leader", the congestion of programing on their family of network tends to relegate the niche sports to the proverbial back-of-the-line in terms of resources and promotion. The NHL moved to Versus from ESPN and found a good home. MLS will do the same this year after many years of appearing on ESPN.
Given the highly competitive nature of televising live sporting events (and the lucrative dollars that come along), it's important for those sports that are seeking to grow their audience to find platforms that are committed to their specific product. Horse racing, a sport seemingly always in need of growing its audience, is a perfect fit for the new NBC Sports Network.
The addition of telecasts from Saratoga and Keeneland last fall on the old Versus channel were a welcome addition to horse racing fans. You never got the feeling that those programs, in glorious HD from two of the most beautiful and historic horse racing venues in America, were something that the network was just wedging into their schedule. It was really the tip-of-the-iceberg of what televised horse racing "could be" given a proper commitment.
For all of ESPN's qualities, their level of commitment to horse racing has seriously regressed over the last decade. Gone are the days of "Breakfast at Churchill Downs", a Breeders' Cup handicapping preview show, or even the Randy Moss hosted programs recapping stakes races from the previous week. (All of those programs existed just 10 years ago.) Even the Breeders' Cup has lost a little something after moving from NBC to ESPN, with the event turning into a cobbled together collection of programs on three different channels in order to squeeze it in between various college football games. I don't blame ESPN for doing that since college football generates better ratings and dollars than the Breeders' Cup ever has. But at the same time, horse racing's marquee events, of which the Breeders' Cup is certainly one, deserves more than second (or third)-fiddle status.
While there are no rumors of the Breeders' Cup following the Triple Crown and returning to NBC once the current contract expires, the launch of the NBC Sports Network, along with the need of that network to add live sports programing to their schedule, would seem to create another outlet that might better serve this event and the sport in general.
(UPDATE) Road to the Kentucky Derby
From The Jockey Club (All Times Eastern):
| Date | Time | Network | Races |
| 24-Mar | 5-6pm | NBCSN | Spiral Stakes; Bourbonette Oaks |
| 31-Mar | 5-6pm | NBCSN | Florida Derby; Gulfstream Oaks |
| 7-Apr | 4:30-6pm | NBC | Wood Memorial; Santa Anita Derby |
| 14-Apr | 6-7pm | CNBC | Blue Grass Stakes; Arkansas Derby |
3 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
A couple things
This is nothing new from me, but figured I’d try to put all my thoughts together on one spot for once:
1- ESPN’s incessant need to self-promote (ie the tags like, “as reported by ESPN Chicago’s Adam Smith on his blog at ESPN.com and confirmed by our own Chris Mortensen, who will be with us in 15 minutes here on SportsCenter”; and that’s not much of an exaggeration) doesn’t fit well with horse racing since they have so little exposure of racing throughout the year. The multi-channel network that is ESPN is built on football revenues and traffic and will always be focused that, and rightfully so. I really don’t think that ESPN is the best venue for racing.
2- The story line that is the year of racing, starting with the Derby Preps, moving into the Triple Crown, developing the crop of 2yos, watching the headline meets at Keeneland, Saratoga, and Del Mar, and culminating in the Breeder’s Cup is all the story line you need. Watching contenders rise and fall, seeing the top end colts, fillies, horses, mares, and geldings be set aside with injuries (or making comebacks from the same) and seeing the successes of the small timers, the heartwarming stories, and the tragedies at any track is entertainment enough. But that doesn’t make a good hour of TV.
3- Good racing makes racing entertaining. I know that sounds stupid, but races with large purses, large fields, and a good story needs to be shown, not skipped on TV to talk about someone’s second cousin who is a good luck charm when they watch from a specific OTB in Northern Indiana.
4- Handicapping is fun. Despite the fact that Hank Goldberg is kinda annoying, I like his “Hank’s Bank” segments. I think regular people do too. It’s pretty fun to see if the professional handicappers actually can make any money. Show more of that on TV. TVG does it well, but that’s their mandate. HRTV does not do it well, but they focus more on the racing than the actual handicapping. That’s super easy for network TV to do when they’re only covering one track on a program. Use plain language when talking about horses/handicapping, the network coverage isn’t meant to be an OTB broadcast.
5- Wouldn’t it make sense for ESPN to show highlights of big races if they want the Breeder’s Cup to bring better ratings? 15 seconds of SportsCenter dedicated to a stakes race or two over their 18 hours of SC/ESPNEWS a day would probably be a good investment for them. I don’t think Herm Edwards screaming about whatever the producers to tell him to say would be harmed too severely.
6- GET SOME HD CAMERAS FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE! Every other sport has recognized that increased quality means increased viewership.
7- Finally, THERE’S MORE TO RACING THAN THREE RACES RUN FOR 3YOS BETWEEN MAY AND JULY!
by TFTribe on Jan 3, 2012 9:54 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Agreed on all accounts.
Outside of TVG and HRTV, I think most broadcasts of horse racing “play it safe”, meaning they aren’t bad but they really don’t do anything to expand the reach of the sport. I remember when NASCAR first went to FOX from ESPN and they started doing all these different things with cameras and telemetry statistics, some really new and innovative things to bring the sport alive (and really, going around in circles for 4 hours provides lots of time for that.). Horse racing needs that kind of thinking. Heck, the national networks could just look at HRTV and TVG to see what the basics should entail: good camera shots, fractional times displayed correctly and consistently, full parimutuel payout information (for more than two seconds), etc.
The story lines and human interest part of horse racing broadcasts are fine when done in moderate amounts. But, in regards to your #4 point, handicapping is an awesome part of the sport (even though I’m extremely biased). It’s also part of the lifeblood of the sport – owners/trainers/jocks, tracks and handicappers are all interdependent – it deserves a much higher profile on broadcasts.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
by Matt Gardner on Jan 3, 2012 12:03 PM EST up reply actions
I sorta called it
A couple of years ago when I said Versus was the place to go to with more coverage. It’s gonna take me awhile to get used to the new name, but I guess Versus is only 5-6 years old anyways (since before that it was the old OLN).
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on And Down The Stretch They Come
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
