Horse racing’s biggest event happens this weekend with the Kentucky Derby. However, Friday’s Kentucky Oaks is the biggest horse race of the year outside of the three triple crown races. The 2023 Kentucky Oaks airs live on USA Network, but I’ll explain how you can watch the Kentucky Oaks for free, even if you don’t have cable.
How To Stream The Kentucky Oaks Live: You Can Watch The Kentucky Oaks and all of Friday’s race coverage Live on USA Network with a 5-Day free trial to DIRECTV STREAM. This Will also set you up to watch this weekend’s Kentucky Derby. I cover other services you can use later in this article.
What Time Is The Kentucky Oaks: The Kentucky Oaks is Friday, May 5th, 2023. Races start a 1:00 PM eastern time with the Kentucky Oaks as the 11th of the day with a scheduled post time of 5:51 p.m. ET
How To Watch the Kentucky Oaks Free
The Kentucky Oaks will air on USA Network. However, you can stream the Kentucky Oaks live and all races leading up to the oaks with the NBC Sports App if you have a subscription to a streaming service that carries USA Network. A few of those streaming services provide a free trial. You can use your trial account and watch the Kentucky Oaks and all of Friday’s races by following the steps below.
- Use a Free Trial to a Service that carries USA Network. Those are:
- DIRECTV STREAM – offers a 5-Day free trial
- FuboTV – offers a 1-week free trial
- YouTube TV – offers a 1-week free trial
- Go to the channel store or app store on your device. On Roku, it’s called the “Channel Store.” But you can download the NBC Sports app on Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon FireTV, and more.
- Search for the NBC Sports app
- Add the NBC Sports app to your device and then open it.
- You can link your TV Provider to unlock all NBC Sports Content through the Settings menu or by attempting to watch any “locked” content. You will be provided with an alpha-numeric code.
- Using a computer or mobile web browser, you go to https://www.nbcsports.com/activate and enter the code you received.
- You will then be asked for a TV provider and a username/password. For example, if you subscribe to fuboTV, select “fuboTV,” then enter your login and password for fuboTV.
- Once you sign in, your TV screen will refresh after a minute. You should now have access to watch all of Friday’s races, The Kentucky Oaks, and The Kentucky Derby
Streaming Services You Can Use To Watch The Kentucky Oaks
All the streaming services below carry USA Network, so you can watch the Kentucky Oaks. You can also use your account credentials from each service to unlock all the horse racing available on the NBC Sports App. You can also just stream the Kentucky Oaks on USA Network with the streaming services app
fuboTV
fuboTV offers over 100 live channels, including NBC, USA, CNBC, and more. They offer a 1-week free trial, which you can cancel within the trial period and not be charged. If you stay on after the trial, the cost is $74.99. You can cancel at any time.
The service supports iOS, Android, Fire TV, Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku, and more. The price includes a cloud DVR and the ability to stream on 3 devices at once. (see our review of FuboTV)
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM offers over 65 channels, including NBC, USA, and more, in their “Entertainment” plan for a price of $79.99 per month. In addition to the channels airing The Kentucky Oaks, your DIRECTV STREAM account will unlock access to the NBC Sports App, providing you with access to tons of live sports.
DIRECTV’s stand-out feature allows you to stream the service on up to 20 devices simultaneously with just one account. The service supports Apple TV, iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and most modern web browsers. DIRECTV STREAM lets you try their service with a 5-day free trial. (see our review of DIRECTV STREAM)
Peacock
Peacock will stream the Kentucky Oaks and all the day’s coverage live on its premium plan for $5.99 per month. There isn’t a commitment so you can cancel at any time.
You can stream Peacock’s Kentucky Oaks coverage on your TV or mobile device. The streaming service supports Roku, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple T.V. 4K and Apple T.V. HD, Xbox One S and Xbox One X, Playstation 4, Android devices, Android TV, Chromecast, and Chromecast built-in, and Amazon Fire TV or Fire Sticks. Follow these steps to install Peacock on your device:
- Subscribe to a Peacock using this Link.
- “Search” your devices app store or channel store for “Peacock”
- Select the streaming service and press “OK.”, “Install” or “Download” depending on your device
- Peacock is now installed on your Roku. Open Peacock, and log in with the credentials you used to subscribe to the service. Search for “Kentucky Oaks” and watch.
If you need more information, see our review of Peacock for more details.
Hulu Live TV
Hulu not only offers its on-demand service but live-streaming as well. Like other services, they offer NBC in specific markets and cable TV and other broadcast networks. To see if live NBC is available in your area, you can use this tool: Hulu Live TV Channels by Zip code.
Hulu offers NBC and USA Network so you can watch The Kentucky Oaks. Hulu + Live TV is supported on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, iOS, Android, and more. You can read more about Hulu in our review of Hulu. There isn’t a month-to-month contract, so you can sign up to test the service without fear of a long-term commitment. You can sign up for Hulu Live TV using this link: Sign up for Hulu + Live TV.
YouTube TV
YouTube TV offers NBC and USA in their lineup. They provide three simultaneous streams and a personal cloud DVR. This comes with a price tag of $72.99 per month. YouTube TV supports Fire TV, Android, iOS (includes airplay to Apple TV), and Chromecasts/Chromecast-compatible TVs. YouTube TV offers a free trial with no long-term commitment. (see our review of YouTube TV)
