Boosted by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, the Haskell Invitational scored horse racing’s top summer audience in 13 years.
The Breeders Cup Challenge Haskell Invitational drew a 1.3 final rating and 2.0 million viewers on NBC Sunday, up 86% in ratings and 102% in viewership from last year (0.7, 995K), and the largest audience for a horse race between the Triple Crown and the Breeders Cup since September 2002 (2.9M).
Viewership peaked at 3.1 million during the final 21 minutes of the telecast, as American Pharoah raced to victory.
It should go without saying that Sunday’s numbers were nowhere close to Triple Crown levels, which bottomed out at a 5.5 and 8.9 million for the Preakness Stakes. However, the telecast did not rank far behind last year’s Breeders Cup Classic, which drew a 1.7 and 2.6 million in primetime.
(Sun. numbers from NBC Sports)
