As was the case for so many races this season, the final race of the 2007 NASCAR season saw double-digit declines in the ratings.
The Ford 400 on Sunday afternoon drew a 3.8 overnight rating on ABC, down 12% from a 4.3 overnight for the same race last year. For eleven NASCAR Nextel Cup races, ABC averaged a 3.5 metered market rating. The 3.5 is down 15% from the 4.1* metered market rating NBC averaged for NASCAR coverage last year, and down 29% from the 4.9^ metered market average for NASCAR on FOX earlier this season.
Heading into the Ford 400, NASCAR races on ABC, FOX, ESPN and TNT averaged a 4.2 national rating, down 9% from last year, and down 21% from 2005. Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports that most of the audience comes from small, Southern markets. “ABC’s Checker Auto Parts 500 … drew 10.5% of households in Greenville, S.C., 9.1% in Knoxville, Tenn. and 7.8% in Birmingham, Ala. But it drew just 1.3% in New York, 1.9% in Los Angeles and 2.4% in Chicago.”
According to the same USA Today piece, ratings for NASCAR races in the three largest television markets are far lower than the national average. Prior to Sunday’s season finale, races averaged a 1.9 rating in New York, a 2.1 in Los Angeles, and a 2.9 in Chicago.
While ratings have been declining over the past two years, and while interest is relatively small in big cities, by no means is NASCAR in trouble. The 3.8 average national rating ABC drew for the first nine races of the Chase for the Nextel Cup is down only 3% from the 3.9 average ABC drew for its coverage of the 2007 NBA Playoffs (including the NBA Finals).
Ratings for broadcast sports franchises.
6.8: 2007 MLB Playoffs on FOX (11 games, including the World Series)
3.9: 2007 NBA Playoffs on ABC (14 games, including the NBA Finals)
3.8: 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup on ABC (first nine races)
*: The 4.1 metered market average for NASCAR coverage on NBC in 2006 does not include the Daytona 500.
^: The 4.9 metered market average for NASCAR coverage on FOX in 2007 does not include the Daytona 500 or the Autism Speaks 400, which aired on a Monday afternoon.
