In June, CDI reported a 6% increase in revenues, despite fewer fans attending the races at Churchill Downs this year. The gap, as the official report explained, was filled by the jaw-dropping 17.7 million viewers who tuned in to watch the 151st Kentucky Derby on various platforms. And now, it looks like the Saratoga horse racing community also gets to revel in its own success emphatically.

The Saratoga horse racing viewership numbers even edged past college football’s average viewership numbers (358,000) on FOX platforms. As if these numbers weren’t enough, along with racking top-shelf viewership numbers, over 1 million horse racing fans turned up at the iconic New York location for the 10th straight year. Along with 1,224,504 paid attendance recorded at the Spa, the 49-day-long summer calendar also roped in huge wagering handles, totaling over $1 billion.

An article by America’s Best Racing from September 2 highlighted how the “House of Upsets” gained significantly, thanks to the budding relationship between the NYRA (New York Racing Association) and FOX Sports. As per the report, the Saratoga Saturday broadcasts on FOX helped the horse racing venue to generate massive returns. The article refers to The New York Times to note that the average viewership numbers from Saratoga on FOX (501,000) even rivaled that of the NHL on TNT (281,000).

Even though FOX began televising Saratoga horse racing events in 2016, it was only in 2022 that the NYRA signed an eight-year deal with the network to give the latter the broadcasting rights for the Belmont Stakes. The collaboration was finalized in light of the fact that NYRA racing events on FOX Sports platforms touched the 700-hour coverage mark. The number is expected to reach 900 hours this year. But come on, are we really that surprised to learn that throngs of fans wanted a piece of the action that panned out at the Spa over the past weeks?

From the final jewel of the Triple Crown, the Jim Dandy Stakes, to the Travers, the Saratoga horse racing venue hosted some of the best races in the world once again this summer. And on all of those occasions, fans congregated to essentially see one enigma, going by the name of Sovereignty. The Bill Mott-trained colt burst into the spotlight after winning the 2025 Kentucky Derby and went on to win all three of the aforementioned competitions in style. In the process, the Into Mischief foal also brought his trainer his first-ever triumph at the Midsummer Derby.

Goes without saying, the chance to witness such a once-in-a-generation talent in all his glory beckoned horse racing connoisseurs from far and wide to Saratoga Springs. Along with the equine stars, the jockeys also gained massively from the heightened number of fans following the summer events at the racecourse. As per official reports, Irad Ortiz Jr., a two-time Belmont Stakes winner at Saratoga, started 286 races at the Big Apple venue and earned over $5.3 million, while Sovereignty’s rider, Junior Alvarado, recorded $3.2 million in earnings in 135 starts.

No wonder, with so much going on, fans just couldn’t help but flock to the stands and tune in via their TVs for the summer events at the “Graveyard of Champions”. But then again, other sports also did their part, or didn’t, based on which side of the spectrum you are, to help horse racing at Saratoga attain such feats.

The Saratoga horse racing authorities have the NHL to thank for their rise

Despite this 2024-25 season being a thrilling one, the NHL suffered incredibly with viewership numbers. Among other things, the Capitals’ captain, Alex Ovechkin’s rundown of Wayne Gretzky’s record, dubbed as the “Gr8 Case”, was one of the biggest events in recent hockey history. And yet, even that scintillating chase failed to entice fans to generate enough viewership numbers. But TNT kept on fumbling, as fans alleged the network’s remote coverage was seriously hampering the overall experience.

But that wasn’t a fluke phenomenon. Viewership has been turbulent for the NHL in general. Both RSNs (regional sports networks) as well as over-the-air distributions have generated mixed results. The Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks were among the very few teams that gained more audience amidst the chaos. Obviously, in light of such data, the Saratoga horse racing community will only feel more blessed to have seen a rise in its higher viewership statistics.

But along with better viewership, FOX also had other things to smile about. This year, for the Saratoga horse racing events in summer, approximately $715 million was placed through the platform, an amount that’s more than double the amount that was recorded in the first year that FOX broadcast races from the Spa. Will this trend likely continue? We’ll have to wait to know!