The Belmont Attendance:

[TheGhost]

Do you think their will be a new record or lower than expected?

[njcurveball]

Taking into account what time of year and all the publicity surrounding Big Brown, I think the only thing that will stop it from being a record day is the weather.

A nice sunny day and they will be announcing a record of over 120,000! :ThmbUp:

[HolyBull29]

I was guessing between 90,000 and 100,000 because of,
NO alcohol and astromonical drink prices.
I know since they cut alcohol out,the attendance was lower than recent avg for non triple crown years. But it is Triple crown,so who knows. I'm thinking maybe 90,000.


Last year was the Super Filly VS. Curlin and only 46,000 showed up. Lowest attendance in a decade. No more younger crowd.

[BombsAway Bob]

Beautiful Weather & a horse that many consider a "shoe-in" to win the
Triple Crown will combine to bring a crowd of 138,431 thru the turnstiles..
"...What, No GiveAway to spike attendance??"

[Citation33]

I forgot that Belmont could only get 46,000 into the track when promoting Rags against Curlin. That's brutal! Who knows these days.

[The Hawk]

Is this poll for the actual attendance, or the announced attendance? I'll take 95,000 actual, 125,000 announced.

[DrunkenHorseplayer]

Didn't know about no liquor; that's gonna hurt. Between 90 and 120.

[PaceAdvantage]

You haven't been able to bring your own booze into Belmont since someone threw a beer can at Mary Lou and Birdstone in the winner's circle (not that this had anything to with it, 'cause you can still BUY plenty of booze in plastic, throwable bottles from any of the many concession stands).

[HolyBull29]

Yeah people were also throwing coins at the horses.
Problem with buying alcohol there is:
Beer $7+ (six pack does'nt even cost that)
Small cup of liquor $9+ (the cup is the size a a dentist spit cup)

Insane compared to bringing in cheaper beer and liquor. They have'nt even gotten close to their usual attendances since the ban. As I said that 46,000 for Curlin vs Rags was just horrible.

[samyn on the green]

The debauchery was over the top at the 2004 Belmont. There was a crew of frat boys on the apron about 30 deep with a Mr. Turtle pool filled with ice and cheap light beer. By the time the Belmont ended this group was completely hammered and began to beef with a nearby crew. These two crews erupted into an all out beer fueled brawl that spill on to the track. People were on the track chasing the horses after the 13th race. This was just one of many incidents that day that ruined BYOB at the Belmont.

NYRA's response was enough is enough and admission was raised and BYOB canceled the following year. A smart move as these young morons contribute little to handle and are too stupid to read the form while ruining the day for the hardcore cappers.

[westny]

The debauchery was over the top at the 2004 Belmont. There was a crew of frat boys on the apron about 30 deep with a Mr. Turtle pool filled with ice and cheap light beer. By the time the Belmont ended this group was completely hammered and began to beef with a nearby crew. These two crews erupted into an all out beer fueled brawl that spill on to the track. People were on the track chasing the horses after the 13th race. This was just one of many incidents that day that ruined BYOB at the Belmont.

NYRA's response was enough is enough and admission was raised and BYOB canceled the following year. A smart move as these young morons contribute little to handle and are too stupid to read the form while ruining the day for the hardcore cappers.

I was on the apron for the WE Belmont...101,000 there and that was true.
Morons brought in giant coolers filled with ice and beer. Left them in the aisles and most blocked paths to/from grandstand/paddock, first floor entrances. You had to step around 5/6 giant coolers in EVERY aisle, to make the 20 minute trek to the first floor entrance. By 500pm these morons were hammered and dumping ice and trying to slide down the slippery bricks. It finally stopped when there was a collision between a kid, lady and a moron.

Good for NYRA for banning BYOB morons. Bunch of @##$%$%^ making it dangerous for the other 100,000. If you've ever been in a crowd of 100,000+, packed shoulder to shoulder like sardines, you know you can't easily escape calamity. @#@*$#$R running wild are dangerous to everyone else.

[Bubbles]

It was horrid in the backyard area as well. I have video to prove it; went and filmed the Belmont for my high school TV station. Needless to say, that footage wasn't used, but there was one instance where two hammered frat guys were wrestling and one tumbled into a visibly-pregnant woman, which didn't go over well with her husband, who went about 6'6", 275.

Incidentally, I think attendance should crack 100,000.

[ManeMediaMogul]

I am in NY was at dinner last night with a gaggle of turf writers. The rumor is Belmont is prepaing for 150,000. There are probably at least 10,000 Japanese racing fans here which should boost the crowd somewhat.

New York is an expensive town - $70 bucks for a decent Yankee seat, so I don't think a $9.00 beer is gonna scare New Yorkers away.

The town is buzzing with Big Brown, a lot of the Belmont Stakes merchandise has already been sold out and everywhere you go it's, "Whodoyalike?"

[rastajenk]

The attendance will be whatever NYRA wants it to be. Especially if it's hot and the place is understaffed and everybody's complaining. "Sixty thousand??? Seems like 160,000!!" wails a middle manager. "160,000 it is," replies the head honcho. Do jaded turf writers take these numbers at face value?

[lamboguy]

if they fill the place up with "hooter girls" maybe they will break 175k

[TheGhost]

They listed about 94,000 but I say being there,it looked like less than that. Who knows the real numbers. That was a bust for them. Funny Cide and Smarty brought in alot more. They were expecting from all the hype and Big Brown,etc they would have more than 130,000. Not even close.

If no Triple Crown next year I say......30,000-35,000.
If Triple Crown......45,000-50,000

[BUD]

I think the realities of this economy have a lot to do with things like this.....Even if I was well enough to go I could hardly afford to.....So Why spend the buck when I can watch and wager from home...

110 dollars to fill my gas tank..... 1 tank and a half to get to NY....Thats just $330 IN GAS alone....

When and if Gas hits 7-8 bucks a gallon the horses might not even show up....

[PaceAdvantage]

They listed about 94,000 but I say being there,it looked like less than that.Funny, I was there too (with a good view from the third floor) and I thought 94,000 was LOW.

[46zilzal]

Even attendance at our little bull ring was way up. I had to laugh as a business group was there and someone had the bright idea of buying 100 $2.00 win tickets on the Brown one hoping to have souvenirs. Well they did alright.

In honor of the Belmont, I wore a Yankee jersey and hat. Talked to a fellow from Queens (as he was also decked out in Yankee garb) and he took a stab at his program and said "I'll just take number 6 across the board."

Saw him later and we had a good laugh.

[TheGhost]

Funny, I was there too (with a good view from the third floor) and I thought 94,000 was LOW.

Yeah,but you know Belmont is not purposely lowering their actual attendance ring. That would be insane.

[PaceAdvantage]

Yeah,but you know Belmont is not purposely lowering their actual attendance ring. That would be insane.I agree. But, I've heard from many that the Smarty attendance was INFLATED. That would explain a lot...

[TheGhost]

Yeah I think it was too about the Smarty Jones crowd. Why can't they just post the actual attendance? I mean whatever the att,they are still making alot of money. Maybe they care about what the Derby and Preakness do,but they also allow infield crowds,so it adds to there's. Although Ialcohol is a big Belmont att. factor I think.

[NJ Stinks]

I may be wrong, of course:) , but I don't think Belmont pads the attendance figures. After all, they did announce 46,000 last year and on many days at Belmont the attendance is announced at less than 5,000.

Saturday was horrific weather-wise at Belmont. I have a friend who left the track at 4:30pm Saturday because he couldn't stand the heat.

One other thought: People loved Smarty Jones! I didn't sense the same level of love for Big Brown.

[samyn on the green]

They listed about 94,000 but I say being there,it looked like less than that. Who knows the real numbers. That was a bust for them. Funny Cide and Smarty brought in alot more. They were expecting from all the hype and Big Brown,etc they would have more than 130,000. Not even close.

If no Triple Crown next year I say......30,000-35,000.
If Triple Crown......45,000-50,000You are right it was so empty all day. With the entire place being a ghost town, I was inspired to take advantage of the lush green apron. I fetched my putter from the trunk after I crushed the early pick4 and and practiced my short game on the deserted apron. Not only did I nail put after put but I crushed wager after wager, cashed a $1000 win bet on Da' Tara and did not have a problem playing golf on the apron.

[TheGhost]

Did I say it was empty????? Did I say it looked like 25,000???:rolleyes: I did'nt think it looked like 95,000. Get over it.

[Citation33]

I thought the attendance was shockingly low. Poll wise,20 people thought 90-120,000. Almost 30 people thought it would be 120,000 to 150,000 and 3 thought over 150,000. They barely got 90,000 for a BIG TC day. I know Belmont was expecting really big numbers for this Big Brown triple crown race. More than their attendance for 02' 03' and 04'.

[samyn on the green]

The apron, backyard and seats were wall to wall to people and hotter than a sweatbox. The attendance numbers seemed low if you were there.

[Citation33]

I said the numbers that BELMONT gave out were low. They got barely got 90,000. I WAS expecting more. Is that ok with you? Oh I'm sorry you are right,Belmont said before the TC that they expect less than 100,000 and nowhere near the numbers put up in other TC like Smarty Jones. Big Brown? who's that?,what hype?. Long Island connections? what?.

"The Apron,backyard and seats were wall to wall with people"Ok so no room left. WOW imagine how they fit in over 26,000 more people during Smarty Jones TC.

[samyn on the green]

The difference between 2004 and 2008 is that in 2004 the Belmont was $2 to get in and BYOB was okay. In 2008 the admission is $10 and no BYOB. Most of the people we lost were the parasitic "they are there to drink as many coors lites as possible crowd". 94K was still very crowded and the humid hot weather made staying hydrated a concern.

[Lose The Juice]

Doesn't matter much in the long run, attendance will drop back to the usual 33 regulars for the rest of the meet. They should just get rid of that vast, empty parking lot, on convert it into Little League fields. The upside is that one almost never encounters traffic jams on the Cross Island Parkway because of track attendance; you could fit most normal Belmont crowds these days into the grandstand at Pocono Downs.

[TheGhost]

Yup they do horrible unless it's a big day. Even weekend crowds are way below what they should have. Shame

[Lose The Juice]

They have the attendance they deserve; the product sucks.

[PaceAdvantage]

They have the attendance they deserve; the product sucks.I take it you're referring to the majority of racetracks in operation today.

[Lose The Juice]

Quite.