How big a role did the Triple Crown drought play in horse racing’s appeal? A significant one, apparently.
Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, won by Justify to clinch the second Triple Crown in four years, delivered an 8.1 overnight rating on NBC — down 34% from 2015, when American Pharoah ended a 37-year Triple Crown drought (12.3), and down 37% from the most recent failed Triple Crown bid, California Chrome‘s attempt in 2014 (12.9).
Compared to last year, when no Triple Crown was at stake and neither the Kentucky Derby nor Preakness winners participated in the race, overnights soared 138% from a 3.4.
Justify’s win, which peaked at a 9.9 from 6:45-7 PM ET, earned the lowest Belmont overnight in a year when the Triple Crown was at stake since at least 1999. The previous low was a 10.2 for War Emblem‘s 2002 bid, the first time NBC aired a Belmont with Triple Crown implications.
Louisville led all markets with a 19.0 rating, down 21% from 2015 (24.2) but up 144% from last year (7.8). Ft. Myers ranked second with a 15.2 (-11%), followed by Baltimore (12.7, -30%) and West Palm Beach (12.7). Tampa-St. Petersburg rounded out the top five at a 12.1 (-32%).*
Host market New York City ranked fifteenth with a 10.3 rating, down 38% from 2015 (16.6). Belmont ratings once reached as high as 20.5 in the market for Smarty Jones‘ failed Triple Crown bid in 2004. Overnights increased 124% from last year’s 4.6.
Long title droughts have traditionally had a significant impact on TV ratings. Ratings for the Cubs and Cavaliers’ 2016 championships were no doubt fueled, albeit to differing extents, by the respective droughts — 108 years for the Cubs and 52 for the city of Cleveland. It is also the case that once those droughts end, interest dissipates.
When the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, ending an 86-year drought, their Game 4 win had an 19.7 overnight. Three years later, when Boston clinched its second title since 1918 in another World Series Game 4, overnights sank 29% to a 13.9.
The underwhelming Belmont numbers capped off a soft Triple Crown. Kentucky Derby overnights fell 13% to a six-year low (9.1), and while Preakness overnights scored a double-digit bump, the numbers were the second-lowest since NBC began carrying the race (5.5).
Metered Market Belmont Stakes Ratings
In years when Triple Crown at stake
