NASCAR ratings took a hit on the fullest sports weekend since March.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from New Hampshire averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.21 million viewers on NBCSN Sunday, marking the lowest rated edition of the race since at least 1998 and the least-watched since at least 2000.
Brad Keselowski’s win declined 18% in ratings and 21% in viewership from last year (1.7, 2.79M) and a tick and 11% respectively from 2018 (1.5, 2.50M). As recently as five years ago, the race had a comparably strong 2.4 and 3.67 million.
Keep in mind the race had to contend with unusually high levels of competition for mid-summer, including NBA and NHL games. While NASCAR topped Blazers-Celtics on ABC (1.1, 1.66M) and Flyers-Bruins on NBC (0.8, 1.42M) head-to-head, those games still represented far tougher competition than last year, when ABC and NBC aired no competing live sporting events.
In addition to the NBA and NHL, this year’s race also faced a strong-performing PGA Tour event on CBS that had a 2.1 and 3.20 million. Last year’s race faced no live golf competition due to the British Open, which ended well before the green flag.
Overall, last year’s race faced only two live sporting events on the major networks, a BIG3 basketball game on CBS and NHRA eliminations on FOX.
Competition only goes so far as an excuse for NASCAR, which was hit-or-miss in the ratings even when the majority of sporting events were put on ice earlier this year. Sunday’s race was the third-straight to decline double-digits to historic lows, continuing a trend of subpar numbers since the sport’s return at Darlington in May.
Since Darlington, eight of the 12 races that can be compared to last year have declined, with the caveat that several of those races were pushed back several weeks from their original dates.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 8.5]
