NASCAR continues to struggle out of the gate.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Phoenix had a 3.3 final rating and 5.4 million viewers on FOX Sunday afternoon, down 18% in ratings and 19% in viewership from last year (4.0, 6.6M), down 20% and 23%, respectively, from 2015 (4.1, 7.0M) and the lowest rated and least-watched edition of the Phoenix race (13 telecasts dating back to 2005). The previous lows were a 3.6 in 2009 and just under 6.0 million in 2010.
Phoenix was the second-straight NASCAR race to hit a record low, with Las Vegas turning in its lowest rating ever the previous week.
Keep in mind that the Phoenix race had not previously faced the NCAA Tournament. Compared to Fontana opposite the tournament last year, the declines were no less steep — 18% in ratings (from 4.0) and 21% in viewership (from 6.8M). Only one Cup Series race has pulled a lower rating opposite the NCAA Tournament since at least 1999 — Martinsville on Fox Sports 1 two years ago (2.4).
Sunday’s race delivered the fourth-lowest rating in NASCAR on FOX history, ahead of Richmond and Texas last year and Texas in 2015.
Coming off of a 2016 season marked by lower ratings, three of the four races this season have hit multi-year lows. Daytona was the only exception. None of the three post-Daytona races have cracked a 4.0 rating; last year, it took until Martinsville on Fox Sports 1 to fall below the 4.0 mark.
Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR was the weekend’s top sporting event outside of the NCAA Tournament, more-than-doubling the second-place finisher, final round coverage of the PGA Tour at Bay Hill (1.4, 2.1).
* CORRECTION 3/28: The 2015 Martinsville race aired opposite the NCAA Tournament and had a 2.4 rating on Fox Sports 1
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 3.21)
