A new season has done nothing to slow NASCAR’s months-long slump.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Martinsville (Va.) earned a 2.3 final rating and 4.0 million viewers on Fox Sports 1 last Sunday, down 8% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (2.5, 4.2M) and down a tick and 2% respectively from 2015 (2.4, 4.1M).
Excluding rainouts, Brad Keselowski‘s win ranks as the lowest rated edition of the race since at least 1998 and the least-watched since at least 2001. Keep in mind it primarily aired on the FOX broadcast network prior to 2015.
Five of the six Cup Series races this year have hit a multi-year low in ratings and viewership, the Daytona 500 the lone exception. The past four have hit a decade-plus low in both measures.
Going back further, 18 of the last 21 Cup Series races (excluding rainouts) have hit multi-year lows. That dates back to Kentucky last summer. The lone exceptions over that span were the Daytona 500 and last year’s Brickyard and Homestead races.
Despite the lower numbers, Sunday’s race was the weekend’s top sporting event outside of the men’s Final Four, edging the Women’s NCAA Tournament title game (2.3, 3.8M).
| NASCAR RATINGS/VIEWERSHIP Dating back to Kentucky last year, excluding rainouts *: First year of race; ‡: Data unavailable prior to listed year |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Net | Rtg. | +/- | Lowest Since | Vwrs. | +/- | Lowest Since |
| 2017 Martinsville (spring) | FS1 | 2.3 | -8% | 1998‡ | 3.96M | -6% | 2001‡ |
| 2017 Fontana | FOX | 3.2 | -20% | 1998‡ | 5.19M | -24% | 2001‡ |
| 2017 Phoenix (spring) | FOX | 3.3 | -18% | 2005* | 5.39M | -19% | 2005* |
| 2017 Las Vegas | FOX | 3.6 | -18% | 1998* | 5.97M | -17% | 2001‡ |
| 2017 Atlanta | FOX | 3.8 | -7% | 2014 | 6.60M | -3% | 2014 |
| 2017 Daytona 500 | FOX | 6.6 | even | — | 11.92M | +5% | — |
| 2016 Homestead | NBC NBCSN |
3.5 | -20% | prev. year | 6.08M | -20% | prev. year |
| 2016 Phoenix (fall) | NBC | 2.4 | -23% | 2000‡ | 4.03M | -21% | 2001‡ |
| 2016 Martinsville (fall) | NBCSN | 1.6 | -20% | 2000‡ | 2.67M | -20% | 2000‡ |
| 2016 Kansas | NBC | 2.1 | -15% | 2001* | 3.45M | -15% | 2001* |
| 2016 Talladega | NBCSN | 2.2 | -15% | 2000‡ | 3.58M | -16% | 2001‡ |
| 2016 Dover | NBCSN | 1.5 | -21% | 2000‡ | 2.56M | -21% | 2001‡ |
| 2016 N.H. (fall) | NBCSN | 1.55 | -14% | 2000‡ | 2.54M | -14% | 2001‡ |
| 2016 Chicago | NBCSN | 1.6 | -16% | 2001* | 2.69M | -17% | 2001* |
| 2016 Richmond | NBCSN | 1.6 | -11% | 2001‡ | 2.71M | -12% | 2001‡ |
| 2016 Darlington | NBC | 2.8 | -24% | 2000 | 4.64M | -22% | 2001‡ |
| 2016 Michigan | NBCSN | 2.1 | -19% | 1998‡ | 3.38M | -21% | 2000‡ |
| 2016 Watkins Glen | USA | 2.3 | -8% | 1999‡ | 3.83M | -4% | 2001‡ |
| 2016 Brickyard | NBCSN | 3.1 | +3% | — | 5.22M | +11% | — |
| 2016 N.H. (summer) | NBCSN | 2.1 | -13% | 1998‡ | 3.30M | -10% | 2000‡ |
| 2016 Kentucky | NBCSN | 1.9 | -5% | 2011* | 3.19M | -1% | 2011* |
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 4.4)
