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The 150th Preakness Stakes was held on Saturday, May 17, 2025, so it is no longer available as a live event. At the time, NBC and Peacock carried the main broadcast, with coverage beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern and the scheduled Preakness post time at 7:01 p.m. ET. Journalism won the race.
If you are looking for the race now, use an official replay rather than a purported live stream. NBC Sports published an official full-race video on YouTube. The original legal free options were an antenna receiving a local NBC station, an eligible TV-provider login, or a qualifying live-TV trial.
2025 Preakness Stakes: quick answer
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Date | Saturday, May 17, 2025 |
| Venue | Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, Maryland |
| Television | NBC |
| Streaming | Peacock; NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app with eligible authentication |
| Main coverage began | 4 p.m. ET |
| Scheduled Preakness post time | 7:01 p.m. ET |
| Current status | Replay only; the live event has ended |
The 4 p.m. start was the beginning of NBC’s main coverage, not the scheduled start of the Preakness itself. The official Preakness post-time schedule listed the race as race 13 with a 7:01 p.m. post. Actual post times can change because of delays.
How to watch the Preakness for free
1. Use an antenna with local NBC
An over-the-air antenna was the clearest genuinely free way to watch the broadcast. If your antenna could reliably receive your local NBC affiliate, you needed no streaming subscription or TV-provider login.
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- Check whether your ZIP code is served by an NBC affiliate.
- Test the antenna and tune to the NBC channel before the broadcast.
- Watch NBC during the coverage window.
An antenna does not guarantee reception. Buildings, terrain, distance from the transmitter, indoor placement, and a weak local signal can all prevent reliable viewing.
2. Authenticate with an existing TV subscription
NBC Sports made digital coverage available through NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app for viewers with an eligible cable, satellite, or live-TV streaming provider.
- Open NBCSports.com or the NBC Sports app.
- Select the live event or live-stream section.
- Choose your TV provider.
- Enter the provider username and password.
- Complete any activation step or code prompt shown by the app.
This was free only in the sense that it did not require an additional event charge for an eligible subscriber. Your provider also needed to carry the relevant local NBC feed, and NBC Sports’ FAQ notes that live-stream access is geographically limited.
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3. Use an eligible live-TV streaming trial
Contemporaneous viewing information listed services including YouTube TV, Fubo, DIRECTV STREAM, and Hulu + Live TV as possible ways to receive NBC. Availability depended on the viewer’s ZIP code, package, date, and trial eligibility.
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Before signing up, confirm that:
- NBC is available at your address.
- The selected plan includes the local NBC station.
- You qualify for the trial as a new or returning customer.
- A credit card is required and when billing begins.
- The trial’s cancellation deadline is clearly recorded.
A trial is temporary access, not a permanently free stream. Cancel through the same account-management page used to start the subscription, and do so before the stated billing date if you do not want the regular charge.
Watching through Peacock
Peacock carried the main Preakness broadcast and related live coverage. It was an official streaming destination, but it should not be described as universally free: access generally required a subscription, trial, promotion, bundle, or other qualifying offer.
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For a live event, choose a Peacock plan that explicitly includes live sports. Peacock’s current plan page distinguishes its sports-carrying Premium tier from the lower Select tier. As a current commercial reference—not the price necessarily offered during the 2025 race—the official page lists Premium at $10.99 per month and Premium Plus at $16.99 per month. Check the current plan page before subscribing.
- Open Peacock’s official Preakness sports page or sports hub.
- Sign in or create an account.
- Confirm that the page offers a live event or replay, rather than assuming an archived listing is still live.
- If you subscribe for one event, review the renewal date and cancel before renewal when appropriate.
Because the 2025 race has ended, the event page may now show replay-only material or become unavailable. Do not confuse a replay or highlight package with a live feed.
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Live-TV services can be useful if you want NBC alongside news, sports, DVR features, and other channels. They are usually poor value for someone who wants only one completed race.
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| Option | Best for | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube TV | A broader cable replacement with local channels and sports | Local NBC access and trial terms vary by ZIP code and eligibility |
| Fubo | Sports-focused households | NBC and free-trial availability vary by market and plan; trials may be discontinued |
| DIRECTV streaming | Viewers seeking a broad live-TV package | Generally expensive for a single event; local-channel availability varies |
| Hulu + Live TV | Households already interested in its broader bundle | Local NBC availability and trial terms must be checked directly |
For context, prices change frequently. Research checked on August 16, 2026 showed YouTube TV’s main plan listed at $82.99 per month and DIRECTV’s official page displaying an $84.99 monthly price signal alongside a trial promotion. Those figures are not historical prices for May 2025 and should not be treated as a guarantee of current offers. Fubo’s official trial page also warns that trials are not available on every plan and may be discontinued.
What “free” meant
- Free with an antenna: No streaming subscription, provided you already had suitable equipment and reliable local NBC reception.
- Free with an existing TV subscription: No extra event fee, but your cable, satellite, or live-TV service was still paid.
- Free trial: Temporary access for eligible customers, usually with a payment method and automatic billing unless canceled.
- Free replay: An official post-event video, not live coverage.
- Unofficial stream: Avoid pirate streams, illicit IPTV, random embeds, VPN workarounds, and mirror sites. They may be illegal, deceptive, malware-laden, or designed to collect payment details.
Troubleshooting the original viewing options
No NBC channel through the antenna
Rescan the TV, move an indoor antenna near a window, try a different orientation, and check whether the local affiliate is actually within reliable reception range. An amplifier cannot fix every reception problem, particularly when the underlying issue is distance or obstruction.
NBCSports.com or the app will not authenticate
Confirm that you selected the correct provider, that the provider carries NBC in your market, and that your account includes live-stream authorization. Restart the activation process if a code expired, then verify the provider credentials independently.
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The free trial is unavailable
Trial eligibility can be limited to new or selected returning customers. Check another legitimate option, such as an antenna or Peacock, rather than creating duplicate accounts or relying on an offer that the provider has withdrawn.
The Preakness does not appear in Peacock
The 2025 event is over. Search the sports hub for an archive or replay, and verify that any video is labeled as a replay. An old event page is not evidence that a live broadcast is still running.
The stream buffers
Test the connection before playback, close competing high-bandwidth apps, update the streaming app, and switch from Wi-Fi to a wired connection where practical. If the issue is service-wide, an antenna may be a more stable way to receive the NBC broadcast in a suitable location.
You are outside the United States
Do not assume the U.S. NBC and Peacock instructions apply internationally. Rights, platforms, and authentication rules differ by country; consult the relevant official broadcaster or the NBC Sports geographic-access guidance.
Where to find the replay
The safest current destination is the official NBC Sports full-race replay on YouTube. The official Preakness result report confirms that Journalism won the historic 150th running. Availability of videos can change, so use official NBC Sports or Preakness pages rather than third-party reuploads.
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