NEW YORK (AP) — American Pharoah’s historic Triple Crown win has drawn the third-best preliminary television rating for the Belmont Stakes since that started being measured in 1988.
With the competition over so quickly, horse racing doesn’t benefit from a dramatic contest in the way other sports do. The race portion of NBC’s broadcast Saturday ran from 6:15-7:15 p.m. EDT, so only the final third of it came after American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.
The 12.3 overnight rating was down slightly from the 12.9 for California Chrome’s Triple Crown attempt last year. Ratings for the Belmont tend to be driven by the appeal of horse’s back story that draws viewers in from the start.
Ratings represent the percentage of U.S. homes with televisions tuned to a program, and overnights measure the country’s largest markets.
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