NASCAR ratings continue to freefall, and the roughest part of the schedule is still to come.
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Southern 500 from Darlington earned a 1.5 rating and 2.66 million viewers on NBCSN, down 17% in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year (1.8, 3.10M) and down 46% and 43% respectively from 2016 on the NBC broadcast network (2.8, 4.64M).
Brad Keselowski‘s win was the lowest rated and least-watched race at Darlington since at least 1999, including the 400-mile race that was discontinued in 2004.
It was also the lowest rated and least-watched Labor Day weekend race over the same span.
Darlington continued a brutal season for NASCAR. Excluding rainouts, it was the 20th of 23 Cup Series races this season to post a double-digit decline in ratings and viewership. Each of those 20 has hit a multi-year low, with 19 falling to all-time or decade-plus lows.
More than half of the races this season — 13 of 23 — have had less than a 2.0 rating, surpassing last year’s full-season total of 12.
Keep in mind all of this has occurred before the start of the NFL season, the point at which NASCAR ratings are usually weakest. Beginning this weekend at the Brickyard, nine of the next 11 races will air opposite NFL games.
2018 NASCAR Ratings Vs. Previous Year
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 9.5]
