The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners were not present at The Belmont Stakes — and neither were many television viewers.
The race segment of The 2010 Belmont Stakes (5:30-7:15 PM ET) drew a 3.1 overnight rating on ABC Saturday afternoon, down 38% from last year, when Calvin Borel went for his own personal Triple Crown (5.0), down 71% from 2008, when Big Brown went for the traditional Triple Crown (10.5), and down 11% from 2007 (3.5).
This marks the lowest overnight for the race portion of The Belmont Stakes since at least 2002 (overnights prior to ’02 were not immediately available).
Prerace coverage from 5-5:30 PM ET averaged a 1.4 overnight, down 42% from last year.
Louisville was the top market for the race, with a 7.5.
Despite the decline, The Belmont Stakes drew the highest overnight of any sporting event on broadcast Saturday.
