The first Triple Crown in nearly 40 years could not quite match a pair of near-misses.
The race portion of The Belmont Stakes drew an 11.2 rating and 18.6 million viewers on NBC Saturday evening, according to Nielsen fast-nationals — down 6% in ratings and 9% in viewership from last year (11.9, 20.5M) and up 149% and 166%, respectively, from 2013 (4.5, 7.0M).
American Pharoah‘s Triple Crown clinching win had the third-largest audience on record for The Belmont Stakes (dates back to 1988), trailing only California Chrome‘s failed bid last year and Smarty Jones‘ near miss in 2004 (21.9M). As NBC noted in a Monday press release, this is the first time the Belmont has earned at least 18.5 million viewers in consecutive years.
Viewership peaked at 22.0 million from 6:45-7 PM ET, the period encompassing the actual race.
Louisville (24.2) and Baltimore (18.2) were the top markets for Saturday’s telecast, up 15% and 5%, respectively, from last year. Tampa-St. Petersburg ranked third, with its 17.8 rating topping the Lightning’s Stanley Cup Final game that followed (15.1). Rounding out the top five were Ft. Myers, FL (17.0) and host market New York (16.6), with the latter earning its second-highest Belmont rating since 2004 (20.5).
The Belmont completed a soft year for the Triple Crown races. After the Kentucky Derby scored slight declines in ratings and viewership, the Preakness and Belmont had declines in both measures.
For the weekend, Saturday’s race was the highest rated sporting event on any network — topping Game 2 of the NBA Finals (10.5). In viewership, however, the NBA game came out slightly ahead (18.8M to 18.6M). This is the first time since 2002 that the NBA Finals has outdrawn the Belmont on the same weekend with the Triple Crown at stake.
(Wknd. numbers from NBC Sports Group Press Box)
