Up is down, black is white, and the NBA beat NASCAR head-to-head in the ratings.
Saturday night’s Russ Friedman 400 drew a 4.0/8 final rating on FOX, down 11% from a 4.5/9 last year, and the second-lowest rating ever for a non-rained out NASCAR race on FOX. The 4.0 is also the lowest rating for the Russ Friedman 400 since the race moved to broadcast in 2007.
All ten NASCAR races on FOX this season have seen declining ratings, with the last seven seeing double-digit declines.
Through Saturday’s race, FOX is averaging a 5.3 rating for NASCAR coverage, down 13% from a 6.1 through the same point last year, and down 9% from a 5.8 through the same point in ’07. The 5.3 average is the lowest ever for NASCAR on FOX through ten races.
The race was beaten in its timeslot by Game 7 between the Bulls and Celtics on cable network TNT, which drew a 4.4 U.S. rating. This marks one of the few times in the past eight years that an NBA game has beaten a NASCAR telecast head-to-head.
Still, the Russ Friedman 400 finished as the third-highest rated sporting event of the weekend, behind Bulls/Celtics and the Kentucky Derby.
