2011 Breeders Cup Post Time: Why a Primetime Race Won't Help Viewership

The 2011 Breeders Cup Classic is the marquee race of the event, but its 7:00 p.m. ET primetime television slot will be terrible for viewership.

First of all, the Classic will go up against college football's "game of the century," the LSU-Alabama game.

That epic football matchup is at 8:00 p.m. ET, and so many people are going to watch this game—even non-football fans. The pregame will be exciting, too.

The Arkansas versus South Carolina football game will also draw a large viewership at 7:15 p.m. ET, and will be another event the Breeders Cup cannot compete with.

The Kentucky Derby and other prestigious horse races are often raced in the afternoon or early evening.

This is the perfect time for a horse race because it doesn't have to compete with major networks who are showing great matchups in sports much more popular than horse racing.

If the Breeders Cup wants to be as big of a deal as a triple crown race, it has to sort out problems like this.

If baseball's World Series can't compete well with a regular season NFL game, then how is the Breeders Cup going to compete with college football's two best teams playing each other?

It won't—and moving the event to an earlier time slot would dramatically help television viewership.

The Breeders Cup needs more casual fans to watch it—the same casual fans who don't pay attention to horse racing unless a triple crown race is on, and you will not get those fans to watch on a Saturday night deep into the college football season.