Despite yet another decline in ratings, NASCAR’s season-ending Ford 400 drew the highest numbers of the Chase For The Cup.
Sunday’s Ford 400 earned a 3.3 U.S. rating and 5.605 million viewers on ESPN, down 8% in ratings and virtually flat in viewership compared to last year (3.6, 5.607 mil, ABC), and down 18% and 15%, respectively, from 2008 (4.0, 6.599 mil, ABC).
Jimmie Johnson finished second in the race to clinch his fifth straight Sprint Cup championship. Entering the race, Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick were separated by just 46 points, the closest margin entering the final race since the Chase began in 2004.
The 3.3 rating is the lowest for the Ford 400 since at least 1998, and is barely half the rating the race drew in the inaugural year of the Chase (6.2). Ratings have dropped for the Ford 400 each year since the Chase began.
The race completed a dubious sweep, as every single Chase For The Cup race this season had a decline in ratings. Eight of the ten had double-digit drops.
On a more positive note, the race was also the only Chase telecast this year to avoid a decline in viewership, and the first NASCAR race overall to do so since the Irwin Tools Night Race in August.
Additionally, the Ford 400 stands as the highest rated, most-viewed Chase For The Cup telecast on any network this year, topping the previous highs set by the Bank of America 500 on ABC (3.2, 5.345 mil). This is the first time since 2005 that the Ford 400 has been the highest rated race of the Chase.
Overall, Sunday’s race ranks as the highest rated NASCAR telecast since the Emory Healthcare 500 in September (3.4), and the most-viewed since the aforementioned Irwin Tools Night Race (5.842 mil).
Of particular importance to ESPN is the fact that the race drew a 1.2 rating among men 18-34, up 33% from last year (0.9). Earlier this season, FOX suffered a much-publicized double-digit drop in the demo for its NASCAR coverage.
The ten-race Chase For The Cup averaged a 2.7 U.S. rating and 4.494 million viewers on ESPN and ABC, down 21% in ratings and 18% in viewership from last year (3.4, 5.489 mil), and down 27% and 25%, respectively, from 2008 (3.7, 5.986 mil).
This marks the lowest rated Chase ever. Since hitting a high of 4.7 in 2005, average ratings for the Chase have declined every successive year.
Of the 70 Chase For The Cup races dating back to 2004, the six lowest rated took place this year alone.
Average Ratings For Chase For The Cup Since 2004 Debut
(2010 Chase average from ESPN; 2009 and 2008 averages from SBDa, 2007 average from SBDb, 2006 average from SBDc, 2005 and 2004 averages from SBDd)
