Breaking news that could indirectly have an effect on how Churchill handles the Derby this year: It looks like the long-anticipated fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will be happening on May 2 in Las Vegas following the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in the early evening. This prospected fight has been THE REASON in my view that Comcast (parent company of NBC) and Churchill Downs have been reluctant to make the Kentucky Derby a prime time event even though the Derby TV rating would qualify it for the primetime May Sweeps and help NBC there. This fight even now will likely break every known record for pay-per-events, sports or otherwise. Before Pacquiao lost, this fight was expected to get 5-6 MILLION buys on pay-per-view and 20-25 million viewers and even now this fight should get close to that. If Churchill had planned the Derby to be at night, theyd likely be looking at a minimum $10-20 million outlay to show the fight on the massive screen there to a crowd that likely would be 200,000+ for the first nighttime Derby, and that to me is why Churchill has been reluctant to have the Derby at night. Still think once Mayweather retires Churchill (with urging from Comcast) moves the Derby (and Oaks on Friday) to being under the lights, especially with the prospect of hundreds of millions in new handle from the Asia-Pacific region.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 04:18:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015