Thanks to rain, ratings fell off for last week’s Pennsylvania 500.
The 2009 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 drew a 1.6 U.S. rating (1.8 cable) and 2.2 million viewers on ESPN last Monday afternoon. The race was pushed back to Monday after being rained out the previous day.
Coverage of the rain delay on Sunday drew a 2.0 U.S. rating (2.4 cable) and 3.1 million viewers.
As evidence of NASCAR’s strength as a television draw, the 2.0 rating made Sunday’s rain delay the highest rated sports program of the week on cable — and the 3.1 million viewers even topped such broadcast sports offerings as MLB on FOX (2.7 million viewers) and the third round of the Buick Open (2.9 million).
Additionally, the Monday afternoon race drew the same rating as a Braves/Dodgers game in primetime on ESPN the previous night.
Last year’s Pennsylvania 500, which aired as scheduled on a Sunday afternoon, drew a 3.8 U.S. rating (4.5 cable) and 6.2 million viewers.
Source: ESPN
