Can you believe it? More people watched derby replay than watched it live

Perhaps trying to make sure it really happened, more people watched replays of 80-1 underdog Rich Strike winning the Kentucky Derby than watched it live.

NBC said some 36 million people watched the exciting finish of horse racing’s premier event on NBC Sports’ social media accounts, including 11.6 million on TikTok, the most ever achieved for a network sports presentation. That doesn’t account for nonNBC outlets, for which there was no estimate available Tuesday.

NBC’s live Derby coverage was seen by an average of 16 million people on the network and Peacock on Saturday. That peaked at 19 million during the actual running of the race, the network said.