Though up from last year, when coverage faced the Olympics, the Brickyard 400 attracted near record-low numbers on ESPN.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Brickyard 400 earned a 3.6 U.S. rating and 5.5 million viewers on ESPN Sunday afternoon, up 9% in ratings and 8% in viewership from last year’s 3.3 and 5.1 million, but down 10% and 14%, respectively, from a 4.0 and 6.4 million in 2011.
Last year’s race, which ranks as the lowest rated Brickyard 400 of all time, aired opposite coverage of the Summer Olympics on NBC.
Sunday’s 3.6 rating is tied as the second-lowest ever for the race, matching 2010 and ahead of only last year. In addition, the 5.5 million viewers ranks as the second-smallest audience for the race since at least 2001.
Ratings and viewership for the Brickyard 400 never recovered after moving from broadcast network NBC to cable network ESPN in 2007. The last time the race aired on broadcast — 2006 — it drew a 5.5 rating and 8.6 million viewers. The top marks for the race since then were a 4.3 rating and 6.7 million viewers in 2008.
In six years on NBC (2001-06), the race earned a 6.0 rating all-but-once, and even cracked the 10 million viewer mark in 2002. NBC Sports Group will likely have rights to the race again starting in 2015 — though it was not immediately clear whether the race would air on NBC or the NBC Sports Network.
For the week, Sunday’s race ranked as the third-highest rated and second-most viewed sporting event on cable.
(Sun. numbers from ESPN)
