For the third straight week, NASCAR earned one of its lowest ratings since at least 2000.
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs from New Hampshire earned a 1.3 rating and 2.0 million viewers on NBCSN Sunday, down 17% in ratings and 22% in viewership from last year (1.55, 2.5M) and down 29% and 32% respectively from 2015 (1.8, 2.9M).
Excluding rainouts, Kyle Busch‘s win was the lowest rated and least-watched NASCAR playoff race ever, falling below the previous marks set one week earlier at Chicagoland (1.4, 2.3M).
It was also the lowest rated New Hampshire race since at least 2000 and the least-watched since at least 2001, falling below the previous marks set last year. Just three years ago, the same race had a 2.4 rating and 3.9 million viewers on ESPN — historically low figures at the time, but nearly double this year’s performance.
Overall, Sunday’s race delivered the smallest Cup Series audience at any track since at least 2001, falling below the previous mark of 2.1 million at Richmond two weeks earlier. It was the second-lowest rated race since at least 2000, ahead of Richmond (1.2). The past three races rank as the three lowest rated over that span, with Chicagoland third (1.4).
While NASCAR ratings have been in steady decline for more than a decade, the erosion over the past three seasons — since the series entered a new television deal with Fox Sports and NBC Sports — has been particularly pronounced.
A whopping 23 of 27 Cup Series races this season have posted a decline in ratings and viewership. New Hampshire was the 22nd of those races to at least tie an all-time or decade-plus ratings low, and the 20th to do so in viewership.
[Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 9.26]
