How to Watch the Grand National 2027: TV, Live Stream and Radio Coverage

The Grand National continues to draw a massive global audience — around 600 million viewers tune in across dozens of countries each year. Whether you’re settling in for a traditional viewing, streaming on the go, or following along via radio, there are plenty of ways to catch every fence. Here’s what you need to know for 2027.

Watching on course is different again: betting at Aintree.

Grand National 2027: Date and Time

The 2027 edition took place on Saturday, 10th April, at Aintree Racecourse. The main race started at 4:00 pm BST. The event is part of a three-day festival (8–10 April), so there were several other races leading up to the big event.

TV Coverage ITV remains the home of the Grand National in the UK — the network secured a four-year deal to broadcast UK horse racing exclusively until the end of 2030. The main terrestrial broadcast was free-to-air on ITV1. Coverage typically began well before the main race: build-up features, jockey interviews, and analysis of the undercard races usually started around midday.

For those who prefer a more data-heavy broadcast, ITV4 often ran supplementary coverage of the earlier festival races. It’s always a good idea to check the schedule in the days leading up to the race, as ITV occasionally adjusts its multi-channel allocation based on other sporting events. Both channels were available through Freeview, Freesat, Sky, and Virgin Media.

Viewers outside the UK should look for local broadcasters. For example, in Ireland, RTÉ and Virgin Media Television typically carried the race, while in Australia, Sky Racing held the rights.

Live Streaming

If you’re not near a TV, live streaming is a great alternative. The simplest free option was ITVX, ITV’s streaming platform. Since the race was broadcast on free-to-air ITV1, it was simultaneously available to stream via a web browser, the ITVX app (iOS and Android), or through smart TV apps on most major platforms. You needed to create a free ITVX account, but there was no subscription fee. The stream mirrored the live television broadcast with only a few seconds of delay.

Additionally, several licensed bookmakers offered live streaming of UK horse racing through their platforms. Operators such as Bet365, Betfair, William Hill, Paddy Power, and Coral provided race-day streaming, usually accessible to anyone with a funded account or a recently placed bet. The exact conditions varied — some required a minimum balance, others a qualifying bet on the race — but for those who already had a bookmaker account, this doubled as both a viewing and a betting platform. One thing to keep in mind: bookmaker streams are typically delivered through an in-app player and may not support casting to a larger screen as smoothly as ITVX.

For those based outside the UK, availability depended on regional broadcasting rights. Some bookmaker streams were geo-restricted, so a UK-licensed operator may not have streamed the race to users logging in from abroad.

The wider context is set out in our Grand National betting guide.

Radio Coverage and Second-Screen Options

Radio remains one of the most atmospheric ways to follow the Grand National. BBC Radio 5 Live was the primary radio broadcaster, offering live commentary and build-up coverage on race day. The commentary was available on FM, DAB, the BBC Sounds app, and the BBC website, making it accessible on virtually any device.

talkSPORT also provided racing coverage during the Aintree Festival, often with a betting-focused angle that included market analysis and tipping alongside the race calls. It was available through DAB, online, and via the talkSPORT app.

The second-screen approach became increasingly popular. Many viewers watched the ITV broadcast on the main screen while following live market movements, in-play odds, or social media commentary on a phone or tablet. Bookmaker apps were well-suited for this — you could track your bet, watch odds shift in real time, and even place additional in-play bets while the race unfolded. Twitter (now X) remained a lively hub during the Grand National, with jockey interviews, pundit reactions, and post-race analysis appearing within seconds of the finish.

However you chose to follow the race — sprawled on the sofa with ITV, squinting at a phone stream in a pub garden, or gripping the steering wheel while 5 Live’s commentator lost their voice over the Elbow — the 2027 Grand National was an event you genuinely didn’t want to miss a fence of. Sort your setup in advance, and all that was left was picking the winner.