One the great finishes in Daytona 500 history was not enough to save the event’s flagging ratings.
The 2016 Daytona 500 earned a 6.1 overnight rating on FOX, down 16% from last year (7.3) but up 9% from 2014, when coverage was delayed to primetime due to rain and faced the Winter Olympics (5.6).
The 6.1 is the second-lowest for the race since at least 2008 (overnights prior to 2009 were not available). It is likely that the final rating will be the second-lowest since live start-to-finish coverage began in 1979; the current mark is a 7.3 for the 1990 race.
Compared to other sports, the Daytona 500 ranks well behind other major events — all six games of the NBA Finals, all five games of the World Series, the three-game Final Four and College Football Playoff, horse racing’s Triple Crown and both third and final round coverage of The Masters.
For the weekend, Denny Hamlin‘s narrow win was easily the top rated sporting event in the metered markets. The final round of the PGA Tour at Riviera was a distant second with a 2.8 overnight.
(Sun. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
