The 2025 Kentucky Derby is here! The inaugural leg of the 2025 Triple Crown will begin at the historic Churchill Downs race course in Louisville, KY at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 on NBC and Peacock. A strong lineup of contenders is ready to race, and attendees have made sure their hat game is on point. Fans can watch with a subscription to Peacock, but if you’re looking to stream the Derby on a live TV streaming service, we recommend doing so with Sling TV.

How to watch 2025 Kentucky Derby

• When: Saturday, May 3 at 2:30 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC, Peacock
• Stream: Watch on Peacock or with a subscription to Sling TV.
• From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.

Everything you need to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby

What time is the 2025 Kentucky Derby?

The 2025 Kentucky Derby will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. There will also be a series of races at Churchill starting at 12 noon ET before the Derby begins, which will be available on Peacock and USA Network.

Why we recommend watching the 2025 Kentucky Derby on Sling TV

Sling TV is a great way to watch the 2025 Kentucky Derby if you want to get the race with a selection of other top cable channels. You’ll want to steer toward the Blue package on Sling to get NBC with your subscription; Sling doesn’t carry the channel everywhere, but it does offer it in some of the largest markets in the country.

You can watch Sling Blue for $46 per month normally, but first-time customers get a discount of 50% off their first month of service, lowering the price to $23 per month. That’s the least expensive way to stream the Derby with your subscription, if you want a package of cable channels to go along with it.

Check out the markets where you can watch NBC with Sling TV

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Sling TV

Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.

You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.

Save with Sling

$19.99+ / month

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Can you stream 2025 Kentucky Derby for free?

Yes, there are several live TV streaming services that you can use to watch the 2025 Kentucky Derby with a free trial. Start with DIRECTV, which comes with a five-day free trial and carries NBC in all of its Signature package, as well as the MySports Genre Pack.

Fubo comes with a free trial of between one and seven days, which can vary depending on what time of month you subscribe and other factors. It carries NBC in all base plans, which start at $85 per month once the trial ends — not including RSN fees.

Hulu + Live TV carries NBC in most markets too, and comes with a three-day free trial. Once the trial ends, your subscription comes in at $83 per month if you want a package that comes with the Disney Bundle for free.

YouTube TV’s trial is a lot like Fubo’s, in that it can vary between two days and 14 days in length. Once its trial ends, the streamer costs $83 per month.

What are all the services you can use to watch the 2025 Kentucky Derby?

As we’ve explained, Sling TV is our favorite way to watch the 2025 Kentucky Derby if you want to get a channel package with the race. You can also stream on DIRECTV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, and YouTube TV if that’s the way you want to watch.

Peacock is also a great option for watching the 2025 Kentucky Derby. It’s available on both plans, so you can watch it for as little as $8 per month with this streaming service.

Preview the 2025 Kentucky Derby

About 2025 Kentucky Derby

This year is the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby, and a $5 million purse is at stake. The betting favorite of the Derby is Journalism, who is 3-1 to win and also won the 2025 Santa Anita Derby and the 2025 San Felipe Stakes. Other contenders include Sandman, Burnham Square, Sovereignty, and Tiztastic.

Mike Tirico will anchor NBC’s Kentucky Derby coverage, with Jerry Bailey, Randy Moss, Eddie Olczyk, Matt Bernier, Ahmed Fareed, Britney Eurton, Donna Brothers, Kenny Rice, Nick Luck, and race caller Larry Collmus. Steve Kornacki will return as insights analyst for his fifth Derby.

How to watch the 2025 Kentucky Derby from anywhere

If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch the Kentucky Derby as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action no matter where you are with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home, even when you’re not, ensuring you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Remember that you will still need to be subscribed to a service that carries NBC to stream the action with a VPN.

SurfShark is one of the best providers around at one of the best prices. Currently, you can get SurfShark’s protection for as little as $2.19 per month. All plans include a secure VPN, ad blocker, and cookie pop-up blocker, so you will be covered from every angle. And since SurfShark’s protection is available on unlimited devices, you won’t have to pick and choose which ones to prioritize. Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!

While SurfShark is our recommendation for the best value VPN to use while you are traveling, there are a number of other high-quality options available depending on what you are looking for.

• Best Budget Option: NordVPN | Starting at $3.39 per month
• Best Features: ExpressVPN | Starting at $5 per month
• Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available