Airing on both FOX and FS1, NASCAR iRacing scored stronger ratings in its second outing.
NASCAR iRacing averaged a 0.8 rating and 1.34 million viewers on FOX and FS1 Sunday afternoon, up 53% in ratings and 48% in viewership from the previous week on FS1 alone (0.53, 903K).
The telecast was the highest rated and most-watched sportscast of the weekend, finishing ahead of the ESPN 30 For 30 “Celtics/Lakers” on ABC the previous day (0.8, 1.18M).
Since the majority of sporting events were canceled or postponed on March 11-12, the race ranks as the third-most watched sports-related program on any network. The ESPN 30 For 30 “Elway to Marino” holds the top spot with 1.42 million on ABC March 21, followed by an abbreviated encore of this year’s US Figure Skating Championships on NBC March 22 (1.40M).
In addition, it topped the previous week’s iRacing event as the highest rated and most-watched esports telecast on record. Prior to this year, the record was 770,000 for a Mortal Kombat competition on The CW in 2016.
As one would expect, ratings and viewership were well short of what would ordinarily be expected for NASCAR. On the same weekend last year, live racing from Texas averaged 3.65 million.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 3.31; esports figures from The Next Level 9.26.19]
