Mike Mulvihill is placing a confident wager on a traditional sport that has often been declared obsolete.
As a Fox Sports executive, Mulvihill recognized that the historic racetrack in Saratoga Springs, New York, had long attracted tens of thousands of spectators from the Northeast but lacked widespread national attention. He believed Fox Sports could broaden its reach.
“It has the glamour of Augusta, yet it’s far more accessible and lively,” said Mulvihill, president of insights and analytics at Fox Sports. “I was convinced that as more horse racing enthusiasts and casual sports fans discovered it, it would become a must-watch event.”
This past summer, Fox’s primary channel aired 24 hours of Saratoga racing, while Fox Sports’ network broadcast over 900 hours of New York horse racing across its platforms nationwide.
Audience response has been strong. Saturday Saratoga race broadcasts on Fox averaged 501,000 viewers, exceeding the National Hockey League’s regular season average on TNT (281,000) and college basketball’s on Fox/FS1 (358,000).
These broadcasts reflect Fox Sports’ expanding collaboration with Saratoga and the broader horse racing industry in New York.
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