A primetime finish and preempted pregame boosted NASCAR’s season finale to its largest audience in a decade.
Sunday’s NASCAR Chase For the Cup finale from Homestead (FL) had a combined 4.4 rating and 7.6 million viewers on NBC and NBCSN, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 42% in ratings and 46% in viewership from last year (3.1, 5.1M) and up 42% and 49%, respectively, from 2013 (3.0, 4.8M). Those races aired on ESPN.
Kyle Busch‘s win, which clinched the Sprint Cup title, ranks as the highest rated edition of the race since 2006 (4.7) and the most-watched since 2005 (9.5M). Since Homestead became the final race of the season in 2002, only the 2002 (8.4M), 2004 (9.9M) and 2005 editions had a larger audience. The last time it aired on a broadcast network, 2009, ratings and viewership were a comparably modest 3.6 and 5.6 million on ABC.
The race also ranks as the highest rated Chase For the Cup telecast since Talladega on ABC in 2008 (4.6) and the most-watched since Charlotte on NBC in 2006 (7.8M).
For the season, ratings and viewership were the highest since Las Vegas on FOX in March (4.6, 7.7M) and the fourth-highest overall — behind Las Vegas, Atlanta (5.6, 9.5M) and the Daytona 500 (7.7, 13.4M). The year-over-year increases were also the largest of the season for any Sprint Cup race, topping the previous highs of 38% and 44%, respectively, for the Daytona 500.
While the hype surrounding Jeff Gordon‘s final race certainly helped, the primary factor in Sunday’s strong performance was a lengthy rain-delay that pushed the finish 50 minutes into primetime — preempting much of NBC’s Football Night in America. The NFL pregame show averaged 9.7 million viewers* through Week 9 of the season, and it appears a good portion of that audience saw the end of the race. Viewership peaked at a whopping 12.4 million from 7:45 PM ET through the conclusion.
Overall, Sunday’s race marked a dramatic turnaround for NASCAR. Of the 28 previous races that could be compared to last year, 24 had declines in ratings and/or viewership.
* Averages are for the 7:30-8:15 PM ET portion only. The first half-hour of Football Night in America does not count toward the ratings.
(Sun. numbers from NBC)
