For the third straight week, NASCAR’s Chase For The Cup put up poor numbers on ESPN.
Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 drew a 2.3 U.S. rating and 3.742 million viewers on ESPN, down 28% in ratings and 29% in viewership from last year’s race on ABC (3.2, 5.252 mil) and down 34% in both from the 2008 race on ABC (3.5, 5.692 mil).
The race is tied as the lowest rated Chase For The Cup race ever, matching the Sylvania 300 earlier this year. The three Chase For The Cup races rank as the three lowest-rated since the format began in 2004.
Additionally, the three races rank as easily the lowest rated regularly-scheduled NASCAR races of at least the past four seasons.
This marks the lowest rated edition of the Price Chopper 400 in the nine-year history of the race. Keep in mind that prior to this year, the race had aired on broadcast (NBC from 2001-06 and ABC from 2007-09) each year.
Despite the lower numbers, Sunday’s race finished as the #14 most-viewed program of the week on cable, and the #2 sporting event of the week on ESPN — topping all of the network’s college football telecasts.
So far this season, five Sprint Cup races have drawn less than a 3.0 rating, compared to one such race last year. Nine have drawn less than five million viewers, compared to just two last year.
Overall, of the 24 NASCAR races that can be compared to last year, 19 have had a decline in ratings and 18 have had a decline in viewership.
(ESPN)
