The first Kentucky Derby was held May 17, 1875, establishing what would become the most famous horse race in the world. For decades, the event served as something of a novelty every spring, as crowds traveled to Churchill Downs to kick off the racing season.

For decades, the TV broadcaster of the race (initially CBS, then ABC, and now NBC) has sought to grow it stature, taking what is ultimately a two-minute sprint and turning it into an event. NBC believes that it finally cracked the code, with coverage that now spans some five hours, and an increased focus on fashion, food, and other areas that are race-adjacent (and conveniently advertiser-friendly). Were in our 25th year of presentation, we started with it being about 90 minutes worth, and now were up to five hours of presentation, says Jenny Storms, CMO of television and streaming for NBCUniversal, in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter. Whats special about the derby is certainly the confluence of sports, entertainment, fashion, food and so much more that it brings to life. It delivers much more of a cultural moment in a cant miss event beyond sports.

Storms says that the Derbys audience, which surged to 16.7 million viewers last year, now boasts a nearly 50-50 demographic split between men and women.

The Derby has become NBCUs spring tentpole, coming after the end of the NFL season, outside of the Olympic windows, but months ahead of the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade and July 4 fireworks show. So the company has used its Symphony marketing effort to get the word out, with near-ubiquitous coverage across the Today show, Tonight Show, CNBC, Premier League coverage and other efforts.

This year, for example, the company will have Olympians like Simone Biles and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone participating, with The Voice winner Gina Miles performing the national anthem. Steve Kornacki will return to give a data-driven guide to the race on May 6.

We continue to be that home for live, the aura of nowness, and its something that you see thats pretty consistent on our platforms, Storms says of the companys strategy in the space.

And now that the Derby has become a proper TV event (the favorite horse to win is Journalism at 3-1), NBCU plans to leverage its audience to drive awareness of some key projects of its own, including heavy promotion for its upcoming Epic Universe theme park in Orlando (NBCs Jerry BaileyandRandy Moss will ride one of the new roller coasters), and the debut of a new 2026 Winter Olympics marketing campaign starring comedians Ray Romano and Sebastian Maniscalco.

NBC also plans to promote the return of the NBA on NBC, on-air and at Churchill Downs, where an activation is planned.

We will be launching this Winter Olympics piece of creative were excited to really drive the conversation and get it going around Milano Cortina Olympics, Storms says. We have a new piece of content celebrating the NBAs return to NBC and Peacock; we have an exciting sneak peek of the new NBC show Destination X, which will be coming out of the Kentucky Derby; weve got great promotion for Peacocks Poker Face, which five days after Kentucky Derby, on May 8, well launch season two; and again, leaning into food, we have new NBC and Peacock show Yes, Chef with Jose Andres and Martha Stewart, thats also going to be promoted heavily within the Derby.

As TV increasingly leans into live events, those events are now bring transformed into marketing bullhorns for everything else the entertainment companies do, and the Kentucky Derby is perhaps a textbook example.