Preakness 2027 may be closer to a date in the coming weeks

The date of Preakness 2027 has not been chosen yet, but the head of the Maryland Jockey Club said it may be close to getting done in a matter of weeks when a media partner is chosen.

“We have not had any conversations with anybody yet,” president and general manager Bill Knauf said Thursday afternoon at his Laurel Park office. “To be perfectly honest, we would have had conversations once we have a better sense of the date and our broadcast partner, and I think they go hand in hand. We would have called Churchill (Downs) obviously anyway and spoken with them and spoken with (the New York Racing Association). But right now it is the Maryland Jockey Club leading that exploration, and we’ll make that decision.”

Flatter Pod: Musburger, Todd, Knauf on Triple Crown.

Asked when a media deal might be completed for next year’s race at Pimlico, Knauf said, “It’s probably another month or so before we maybe have an idea of who our partner will be.”

Speaking in a phone interview for Horse Racing Nation’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod, Knauf did not tip his hand about whether the Preakness would remain two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, the date it has been run every year but once since 1956.

With the Derby winner absent from three of the last five runnings, there has been a push to move the race back a week, which is where it was from 1953 to 1955. There also have been calls to run it the first Saturday in June. Any move is likely to be resisted by NYRA, which has run the Belmont Stakes five weeks after the Derby every non-COVID year since 1969.

Knauf, who said he could not say much about Churchill Downs’ $85 million plan to buy the Preakness brand from The Stronach Group, insisted that the MJC is prepared to talk with both Churchill and NYRA as details fall into place.

“I can only speak for us in our position right now,” he said. “We’ve got open lines of communication with both entities, but also we have certainly open lines with the state of Maryland as well as leaders in Baltimore. The date affects a lot of things, certainly in Baltimore, and of course you’ve got the history of the race as well. We don’t have any issue from our standpoint of communicating regularly when the time is right with everyone, with all those entities.”

The next move, then, is deciding who steps into the telecast role that NBC has had since it replaced ABC and ESPN in 2001. The synergy between NBC and Churchill Downs undoubtedly will be an influence in negotiations for the Preakness rights. Last month Sports Business Journal reported that NBC and Fox, which has telecast the Belmont Stakes since 2023, are interested suitors as are streamers Netflix and Prime Video.

“We started this process months ago and have done a fair amount of analytics, just learning about the space itself and certainly the trends, where the Preakness has been and where other sports events have gone,” Knauf said. “We have entered it with not only the linear channels but certainly the streamers as well.”

Knauf runs the current incarnation of the MJC, which was born after Stronach decided two years ago to hand control of Pimlico and Laurel to the state government. TSG retained the Preakness brand and was paid a total of about $10 million to stage the 2025 race at Pimlico and Saturday’s one-off running at Laurel Park. The new MJC was created by the state, which is rebuilding Pimlico using $400 million in bond money.

Because this MJC has been doing business for less than 1 1/2 years, Knauf said it does not consider itself or NBC an incumbent in media negotiations.

“We’re approaching it probably different than anyone else has, simply because you’ve always been tied to a previous network,” he said. “We are not, simply because of the way that this deal unfolded with the state starting new. We’re open to everybody and listening, and (the Preakness is) probably a property that hasn’t come up for a lot of these ever. Obviously the other two are on NBC and Fox. If you’re a Netflix or an Amazon, this is something new that you haven’t seen before. We’ve had a really good amount of interest from everybody, but we’re entering a kind of wide opening and listening.”

Even without Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, the TV audience for the Preakness was its best in five years. NBC said the 3 1/2-hour show averaged 5.5 million viewers and peaked at 7.1 million when Napoleon Solo won the race. Those numbers were dwarfed by the Derby’s 19.6 million average and 24.4 million peak, but they were close to the 5.7 million and 8.0 million for Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship on CBS. They beat the NBA Playoffs, which have been averaging 4.5 million per game. Prime drew 6.5 million Sunday for Cleveland’s game 7 win over Detroit.

“It’s great to see progress,” Knauf said. “I was really excited to see what the Derby pulled. That seems to be the trend, really, as championship-level sporting events keep growing. The Derby had a great leap, and the Preakness did as well. Laurel was sort of a unique situation. It was a one-off, so you don’t know really how that was going to play out. We knew Laurel’s a great track and could host it and everything, but when you start to see ratings, you never know, but it was great. It was great to see that.”

Asked how big a bargaining chip that would be in media negotiations, Knauf said, “It certainly helps us, for sure.”

Because so much of the Laurel grandstand would have needed expensive maintenance to make it suitable again for a big crowd, Preakness attendance last weekend was limited to 4,800 people, all in areas that could be spruced up for the occasion. With a pond in the middle of the course, Laurel also lacked the infield capacity that Pimlico has.

“I do feel bad for folks that just could not get out here simply because it was capped,” Knauf said. “On the positive, I would say that it was a really cool, intimate feeling if you were here. I think the building certainly handled the crowd we had very easily, and it was comfortable. When you go to championships-style events it’s usually very crowded, and lines are long, and I think this building was built for this number, so it handled it well, and it was a very enjoyable experience for those who came out, certainly.”

Knauf reiterated that the new Pimlico clubhouse will not be completed in time for Preakness 2027, but the race still would be run at the familiar Baltimore racecourse where a second tunnel has been dug and receiving barns have been built. He assured that spectator capacity will be much higher next year.

“It will be all temporary construction, temporary hospitality, which will be similar to years past and very common for Preaknesses,” he said. “Then if you fast forward to the ’28 Preakness, that’s the timeline for the building to be opened.”

Knauf said he was not worried that the Maryland state legislature hit the brakes on a $48.5 million payment to Stronach to buy Laurel and turn it into a training center. With the backing of Wes Moore, the Democrat governor, he expressed confidence that the check would clear.

“The legislative policy committee asked for the additional time to review commentary, so I think they have maybe another 45 days while they do that, and we’ll then provide commentary back,” Knauf said. “Nothing has really been done on the planning side of (converting Laurel). We’re just waiting for that transaction to be completed, and then obviously, we’ll follow the (Maryland Stadium Authority’s) lead, because they’ll be leading that project just as they are at Pimlico, and we’ll get to work on planning it out, which is exciting. So nothing’s changed here right now from that standpoint.”

With Preakness 2026 behind him, Knauf is focused on this holiday weekend at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. The all-turf course will host eight flat races Sunday. One flat and eight steeplechase races are carded for Monday.

“I know they’ve raced at Fair Hill once last year on the steeplechase side, but this is going up there with full wagering on it,” Knauf said. “It’s a great betting card, and we’ll offer full simulcasting on it, which has not been done before up at Fair Hills. It’s a really cool experiment.”