With the caveat that Hurricane Irma may have played a role, NASCAR delivered its lowest Cup Series rating in at least a decade last weekend.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Richmond (Va.) earned a 1.2 rating and 2.1 million viewers on NBCSN, down 25% in ratings and 21% in viewership from last year (1.6, 2.7M) and down a third and 30% respectively from 2015 (1.8, 3.1M).
The 1.2 rating is the lowest for any Cup Series race, excluding rainouts, since at least 2000. It may well be the case that the 1.2 is the lowest ever for a Cup Series race that was not postponed or severely delayed by rain, but records prior to 2001 are spotty.
In addition to the overall low, Kyle Larson’s win was the lowest rated edition of the race since at least 1998 and the least-watched since at least 2001.
Saturday’s race faced unusual competition from breaking news coverage of Hurricane Irma, with The Weather Channel averaging 3.4 million viewers from 8-11 PM ET Saturday night. NASCAR was not alone in posting unusually low numbers last weekend, with the NFL hitting multi-year lows for six of seven Week 1 windows.
[Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 9.13]
