Belmont finishes at NBC low

In a reversal from the overnights, this year’s Belmont Stakes ended up at a ratings low.

Saturday’s race segment of the Belmont Stakes earned a 3.1 rating and 4.91 million viewers on NBC, down a tick in ratings and a fraction of a percent in viewership from 2017 (3.2, 4.92M) and down 16% in both measures from 2016 (3.7, 5.83M), the last two times the race did not carry Triple Crown implications.

Compared to last year, when Justify won the Triple Crown, ratings fell 59% (from 7.5) and viewership 61% (from 12.66M).

Sir Winston‘s win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Belmont Stakes since 2010, the last time the race aired on ABC (3.0, 4.74M). Going back further, it is tied as the second-lowest rated since at least 1995 and ranks as the fifth-least watched since at least 1993.

It also ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Triple Crown race on NBC (52 telecasts dating back to 2001). Two of the three lowest rated came this year, with the Preakness (3.4, 5.41M) ranking third.

The numbers were a far cry from last month’s unusually dramatic Kentucky Derby, which saw apparent winner Maximum Security stripped of the victory. That race increased double-digits over last year, with viewership for the post-race replay review higher than for the race itself.

Any momentum from the controversial finish quickly faded once Maximum Security and Derby winner Country House were pulled from the remaining races — eliminating the possibility of a rematch, to say nothing of a Triple Crown.

The Belmont ranked second for the weekend among sporting events behind Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final (3.6, 6.47M). The NBA Finals skipped the weekend, with Game 4 on Friday and Game 5 on Monday.

Lowest rated and least-watched Triple Crown races on NBC

[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 6.11]