Fox entered the Triple Crown of horse racing for the first time on Saturday with its broadcast of the Belmont Stakes. The feedback on the race’s coverage has generally not been positive.
While Tom Durkin was on the call for the race, the prevalent sounds of the Belmont came from the track itself. The microphones picked up the horses running around the track and toward the end of the race, their breathing.
Arcangelo took the lead during the final turn, then sprinted to victory over the final stretch. But as the horses got closer to the finish line, Durkin’s call was getting progressively harder to hear, as the sounds of the galloping and breathing from the animals got louder.
Here's how the Belmont Stakes looked and sounded on the Fox broadcast. ??pic.twitter.com/VWHjm8N9Rn
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 10, 2023
While Fox has been broadcasting events in the NFL and MLB for decades, it’s still relatively new in sports broadcasting, especially when compared to NBC, ABC and CBS. Its initial forays into different sports are frequently not well received.
That was the case with the Belmont. Viewers were most notably upset about the audio issues.
I like hearing the rumble of the horses but Fox's audio at the Belmont was so attuned to it that you could barely hear the announcer.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) June 10, 2023
Yeah it was absolutely awful sound mixing. Could not hear commentary live whatsoever. It was drowned out by the track sound https://t.co/UtYIVZiVpV
— Ryan Epling (@bigeps) June 10, 2023
This is why NBC should run every major horse race. The sound mixing… YIKES. You can't even hear the race call at the end. https://t.co/TyqRca45dW
— Mark Freund (@MarkFreundTV) June 10, 2023
Fox Sports has had the crowd/field mics too loud for years now, but today you could barely hear Durkin in the last third of the race… Completely unacceptable audio quality from a major broadcaster. https://t.co/Uj9ZIxy7t8
— Brian Crozier (@BriCrozier) June 10, 2023
this is one of the worst sounding broadcasts I've ever heard https://t.co/zrzbXLKRHS
— Adam the dont stare directly at the sun worm (@trislerstudz) June 10, 2023
Unfortunately, the deal the Belmont made with Fox lasts till 2030. So, hoping we get to 2031 real quick!
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) June 10, 2023
If there’s anything to be somewhat optimistic about, it’s that Fox’s coverage of these events generally does improve over the years. Its coverage of golf’s U.S. Open, for example, was poor in 2015, but got significantly better the following year and through the remainder of the contract. That can definitely happen with the Belmont — and it needs to.
It’s been a rough year for the sport of horse racing in general. The last thing it needs going forward is poor coverage of a marquee event.
