NASCAR hit a three-year ratings high at Las Vegas, snapping a four-year streak of declines for its second race of the season.
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas averaged a 3.2 rating and 5.50 million viewers on FOX, marking the highest rated and most-watched edition of the race in three years (2017: 3.6, 5.97M).
Joey Logano’s win increased 7% in ratings and 8% in viewership from last year (3.0, 5.12M) and 10% and 16% respectively from 2018 (2.9, 4.73M).
This year marked the first time that the race took place on the weekend after the Daytona 500, traditionally NASCAR’s highest rated outside of the 500 itself. Compared to last year’s post-Daytona race, Atlanta, ratings increased a tick (from 3.1) and viewership 9% (from 5.07M).
The race snapped a streak of four-straight declines for the post-Daytona race, which netted a 5.6 and 9.50 million as recently as five years ago.
It ranked as the highest rated and most-watched sporting event of the weekend, topping the second-place Celtics-Lakers NBA game on ABC head-to-head (2.3, 3.59M). The NBA game came out ahead in adults 18-49 (1.1 to 1.0) and adults 18-34 (0.8 to 0.6).
The increase at Las Vegas comes on the heels of a Daytona 500 that was trending at a multi-year high until an inopportune rain delay. The 500 ended up at a record-low.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 2.25]
