The first Triple Crown win in three years was no match for the first Triple Crown win in 37.
The race segment of Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, won by Justify to clinch the Triple Crown, earned a 7.5 rating and 12.7 million viewers on NBC — down a third in ratings and 32% in viewership from American Pharoah‘s Triple Crown win in 2015 (11.2, 18.6M) and down 37% and 38% respectively from California Chrome‘s failed bid in 2014 (11.9, 20.5M).
Compared to last year, when no Triple Crown was at stake and neither the Kentucky Derby nor Preakness winners participated in the race, ratings increased 134% (from 3.2) and viewership 157% (from 4.9M).
Ratings were the lowest for a Belmont Stakes with Triple Crown implications since 1999, when ABC earned a 6.9 for Charismatic‘s third-place finish. Viewership was the lowest since 2002, when NBC had 12.4 million for War Emblem‘s eighth-place run.
During the quarter-hour encompassing the race, nearly seven million fewer viewers watched Justify cross the finish line than watched American Pharoah break a 37-year drought three years earlier. Per Nielsen fast-nationals, the telecast had 15.3 million viewers from 6:45-7 PM ET, down 30% from the same period in 2015 (22.0M).
Saturday’s telecast had a 1.6 rating in adults 18-49, easily the day’s top television program in the demo. The 2015 demo rating was unavailable, but the 2014 race had a significantly stronger 4.0.
The Belmont capped a subpar year for the Triple Crown horse races. The Kentucky Derby tied its lowest rating in 12 years and earned its smallest audience in six. The Preakness Stakes posted its second-lowest rating and viewership since NBC acquired rights.
As mentioned in the overnights post, it is not unprecedented for a sporting event to fall off after the end of a long drought. When the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, ending an 86-year drought, their sweep of St. Louis averaged 25.4 million viewers. Three years later, their sweep in the 2007 World Series lost a third of the 2004 audience, averaging 17.1 million.
NBC’s coverage had a streaming audience of 79,000 viewers. Streaming figures in 2015 and 2014 were not available.
Belmont Stakes Ratings, Viewership
Since NBC acquired rights
