Though the numbers were not down dramatically, last week’s Sprint Cup race from Martinsville was the lowest rated in more than a decade.
Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Martinsville earned a 4.2 final rating and 6.7 million viewers on FOX, down 5% in ratings and 3% in viewership from last year (4.4, 6.9M), and down 2% in both measures from 2012 (4.3, 6.8M).
Ratings and viewership were the lowest for the spring Martinsville race since 2002, when it aired on cable network FX (3.2, 5.4M). The numbers were also the lowest of the season for a Sprint Cup race, falling below the previous mark of 4.4 and 7.1 million set one week earlier at Fontana.
So far this season, all six NASCAR Sprint Cup races have had declines in ratings and viewership compared to last year. The good news for NASCAR is that most of the declines have been modest — five of six races have had ratings decline by less than 10%.
The bad news is that even with those modest declines, most of the races have hit multi-year lows. Burdened by rain and the Olympics, the Daytona 500 was the lowest rated and least-viewed ever. Phoenix was the lowest rated post-Daytona race since 2000. Las Vegas hit a four-year low and its third-lowest rating ever. Finally, Fontana had its second-lowest rating since 2000, ahead of only rain-drenched coverage in 2012.
(Sun. numbers from Sports Business Daily)
